


Conquering the Crests of Life

by Crystalia



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS
Genre: Action/Adventure, Canon Compliant, Developing Friendships, Deviates From Canon, Dr. Kogami's A+ Parenting, Duelling, Everyone Needs A Hug, F/M, Family Drama, Fluff and Angst, High School, Minor Headcanons, Minor Original Character(s), Music and Space, My First Fanfic, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, POV Second Person, Panic Attacks, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Recovery, Slice of Life, Slow Build, Slow Burn, Therapy, WIP Summary, WIP Title, mostly but
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-17
Updated: 2021-02-21
Packaged: 2021-03-04 00:28:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 24,567
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24774661
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Crystalia/pseuds/Crystalia
Summary: After 10 years in America, you’re forced to move back to your hometown in Japan.It’s hard being surrounded by a world so engrossed in virtual reality when all you want to do is enjoy each breath of everyday life.And when you finally gather strength to enter the virtual world and do what you love, you are unwillingly thrust into conflict. It begins to unearth secrets connected to the past you are so desperately trying to forget and move on from.But apparently, fate won't let you.'Fate' being in the form of a little white, snarky AI.You can't shy away from the incident anymore. You find it's much bigger than just yourself.——————————————The story of the seventh victim of the Lost Incident. Experience her daily life and how she gets tangled in the mess going on in Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS.
Relationships: Fujiki Yuusaku/Original Character(s), Fujiki Yuusaku/Original Female Character, Fujiki Yuusaku/Reader, Kusanagi Jin & Original Character(s), Shima Naoki & Original Character(s)
Comments: 26
Kudos: 20





	1. Turn 1 | A New Life

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An introduction to our protagonist's lifestyle and the circumstances that brought her to Den City.

_Five years ago, deep in the virtual network._

“Vanish, Cyberse!” 

In a binding circle of red light, five Ignis are trapped, unable to do anything but watch as Cracking Dragon’s flames destroy the world they’ve built up and lived in _peacefully_ for five years.

It fills the white Ignis with white hot, _seething_ rage. The Ignis haven’t done anything, yet here is a hacker group trying to destroy everything they’ve ever known. 

It knows it can’t risk rescuing its companions until the Knights of Hanoi are dealt with.

And it certainly can’t do that with this _incompetent fool_ of an Ignis.

“Sorry for the wait! Your saviors have arrived!"

The only reason the white Ignis isn’t trapped is because it happened to be talking with the most annoying one of all.

“Being around the most hated sure has its perks, eh?” The Dark Ignis nudges the white one in jest, but it snaps furiously back, arms raised.

“How in the world can you still joke? We’re being attacked!” 

“Yeah, yeah. You know what we gotta do to save them, right?”

The white Ignis sighs and wordlessly flies up towards the exit of Cyberse World. 

“Oi, wait for me!” 

Revolver grits his teeth at the retreating Ignis and orders Cracking Dragon in their direction. “Don’t let them escape!”

The first AI cracks through the green barrier of Cyberse World, with the purple one not far behind.

“I’ll take half, you take the other. It’ll be less dangerous for the others if the data is split up, just in case one of us is captured.” It starts encoding the location of Cyberse World and severing the connection between the Knights of Hanoi.

The Dark Ignis sulks. “Ah, I hate it when you boss me around.” Nevertheless, it encodes the last part of the Data Material, effectively sealing Cyberse World away from the Knights of Hanoi. “Piece of cake!”

A roar erupts behind the floating figures, and the purple one turns to see Cracking Dragon flying full speed towards them.

“Look out!” It pushes the white AI away from the dragon, but not fast or far enough to escape the dragon’s sharp jaws.

The white Ignis screams in agony as half of its body is severed by Cracking Dragon’s teeth. 

_I’m trapped!_ And Revolver is quickly approaching. It has to think of something, _fast_. 

Half of its body is already unsalvageable at this point and, according to quick simulations, forcefully disconnecting with it would be the best route of escape. Doing so would affect its memories, but that’s better than endangering the rest of the Ignis. It’s a little worried about the Dark Ignis’ unknown state, and the chances of reuniting with it are slim.

If there is one thing this program will ever pray for, it's the hope it’ll get out of this situation _alive_ and be able to live undisturbed with the companions it has come to care for.

The Ignis heaves the remains of its body out of the dragon’s clenches. It flees into the network, with broken memories and a festering hatred for humans.

* * *

**Turn 1 | A New Life**

Cheek pressed against the cold glass of the window pane, you lazily soak in the glittering view of your hometown’s skyline. Birds soar below the plane with wind ruffling their feathers. Soft music resonates in your ears as you watch them glide gracefully around skyscrapers.

You wish you could fly, unburdened by gravity and guided only by the wind’s direction.

The harsh chime of the plane’s speaker cuts through your music and jolts your brain to attention. You rapidly take off your headphones to hear the following announcement.

“We have arrived in Den City, Japan. Please keep your seat belts on as we descend. Thank you.”

Buckling your seat belt, you recount the directions your mother gave you before you hopped onto the eleven-hour flight. Alone. You frown, still a bit upset she couldn’t come with you.

* * *

_With her back away from you, your mother rifles through her handbag. She finds what she’s looking for and pulls out her phone._

_“Remember, after you disembark the plane, head to the front of the airport and give an automated taxi this address.” With a tap on her phone, she sends the address to your phone, which gives a ping in response. “It’ll take you to our new house; it looks the exact same to the home we picked out. I’ve had all your luggage sent directly to our house.”_

_She turns to you, the aging, silver locks in her white hair shimmering in the artificial light. Your mother sees you pouting and looking down at the ground with long curls covering your face._

_“Chin up, dear.” She gently holds your head up with two hands and forces you to look her in the eye. “I’ve told you multiple times why I can’t come with you yet. I have matters to finish up here and ---"_

_“And the company won’t let you transfer if you don’t finish that project, I know Momma. It’s not the first time you’ve had to travel for work,” Your voice cracks, and you glance back down to the ground, “but this will be the longest you have ever left me, and the first time we have ever needed to move to somewhere new! And back there of all places!” Your eyes are so misty with unshed tears you can barely make out the tiles on the ground._

_Technically, Den City is not new to you. But from what you’ve seen from pictures, it has rapidly evolved from what it looked like ten years ago._

_“I know, my star. But the company needs me back in Den City soon, and I don’t want you to start school in the middle of the year. You can still call me whenever. Just keep in mind the time differences.” She hugs you. The hug is so close you can inhale her perfume and her underlying natural scent. You engrave it in your mind._

_“Boarding for terminal 4-V, to Den City, Japan, ends in twenty minutes.”_

_Despite the announcement, you don’t want to let her go._

_Your mother releases the hug way sooner than you want to. She holds your shoulders. “I’ll see you in a few months, okay?”_

_You sniff and blink back tears. “Okay. Love you, Momma.”_

_“Love you too baby.”_

_You turn and head into the first-class boarding area, bag slung over your shoulder and give your mom one last parting wave._

_You’re going back to your hometown. You just pray your life there won't end up as bad as when you left it._

* * *

You crane your neck up a bit to view the looming house in front of you. It does look exactly how it was pictured online.

A neatly kept garden with beautiful flowers precede a one story modern, white building with sharp edges. It’s painted dark green on the sides, and the roof is slanted with gray tiling. Two blue decorative pools flank the stone brick entrance to the front door.

In short, it’s you and your mom’s dream home.

True to your mother’s word, you find all your luggage, both boxes and suitcases, inside at the front door. Before you explore, you decide to take time to set up your room.

Looking at the many boxes, your eyes land on a big clunky box and a box labeled ‘FRAGILE’ and ‘THIS SIDE UP.’ You resolve to take the big clunky box hastily scrawled ‘Music Tech’ first. You grunt while trying to pick it up, and shakily put it onto the conveniently placed wheeled cart next to the boxes and suitcases. You wheel the cart through your house's many corridors. If you remember the layout of the house correctly, your room should be just around this corner… You push the door to what you hope is your room and see…

It’s magnificent!

The painters got all your requested details down to a T. Immediately after opening your door you are greeted by the morning light of the window, which resides behind your whitewood bed in the center of the room. Bright stars glitter on your dark purple ceiling and are accompanied by planets, both from the Earth’s solar system and beyond. Your white dresser is already set up on the right side of the room, and various space-themed decorations are already arranged. (You don’t bother worrying about who set up the room -- your mom probably hired someone to do the tedious stuff).

You gape as you take in your dream room. Everything you requested, your mom got for you in spades. You feel so grateful to have a mother like her, even if she couldn’t be here marveling the house with you right now. And on the thought of your mom, you should let her know you made it to the house alright. After wheeling the cart into a corner, you glance at the time on your phone. It’s 10 am, which means it should be about 6 pm in Cali. Not too late to send a text.

> Hey mom, just arrived at the house. I haven’t checked out the entire house, but my room looks AMAZING! 😊  
>  \- my_room.jpg attached -

This is just the main bedroom. You still have four more doors connected to your main room. You peek through two of them and confirm that one is the bathroom and the other is the walk-in closet. It already has all your clothes hung inside. You open another door to the right and view your study room. Bookshelves line one wall and a wheely chair and wide table face the opposite wall. A huge red beanbag lies in the corner, next to the bookshelf. You head out and enter the last door. Based on the layout of the round desk and chair, you know this is your music tech room.

You get the box from your bedroom and excitedly begin unpacking and plugging in your computers, synthesizer piano, speakers, and various other technologies.

Forty minutes into your unpacking, your mom responds.

> I’m so happy you like it! 😄 Just wait until you see what’s in the living room!

Peering at the text, you grin. Maybe moving back here won’t be so bad after all.

* * *

By the time you’ve finished setting up your music room, it’s already late afternoon. Woodwind, string, brass, and percussion instruments fill the edges of the room, with all your tech centered on the back wall.

You huff in satisfaction, proud of the work you’ve accomplished.

Then suddenly, you feel a mild pang in your stomach. It has been a while since breakfast…

You flatten the box for your tech and the ‘FRAGILE’ box that had contained your instruments and carry both out of your room. You navigate through corridors and unoccupied rooms. Despite being one-story, your house is very, very spacious. And no one is here.

It makes you feel very small. And lonely.

Eventually, you venture into the kitchen. It’s got a red-orange theme. You drag your fingers along the cool, smooth stone slabs of the countertop. You can see the living room through a wide opening that starts on level with the countertop. In the living room lies a familiar robot, no taller than three feet.

Your face contorts in surprise. You weren’t expecting to see Emerald here! Quickly, you drop the boxes into the trash and race over to the doorway that connected the kitchen to the living room. You kneel next to the robot.

Emerald was your caretaker robot ever since you moved to California. She’s made out of a sleek metal coated green that flares down into a petal-like skirt with gold tips. You find warm comfort running your fingers on the aged but still shiny metal. You smile; this must be your mom’s surprise. In a flurry, your hands quickly turn Emerald around and press the area where the start-up button is. It’s actually invisible, but a light blue circle appears upon contact with your finger. Emerald rolls around and faces you, it’s yellow eyes now open.

“Good afternoon, miss. It’s wonderful to see you again.” Her voice is much smoother and more connected than before, but still very robotic. Your mom must’ve updated her AI.

“It’s really nice to see you too, Emerald. I thought my mom said I had to leave you behind?” Your mother did mention something about not being able to transport personal robots on the plane…

“She knew you would ask. I am instructed to tell you ‘she found a way.’” You chuckle. Knowing your mom, that must mean she pulled a few strings to get Emerald here. Emerald moved away from you to scan you for… something? “I see you haven’t eaten yet. Come, I can prepare you a late lunch.” She whirrs around and heads into the kitchen. Through the archway, you can see her start to extend her arms to open the cabinets and the fridge simultaneously. “You may use the remainder of today to rest. Tomorrow you must pick up your school schedule and uniform, and introduce yourself to your new therapist. Your mother has already transferred your treatment, so you may pick up your prescription tomorrow as well.”

Of course, back to business. Your education and health is top priority on your mom’s list, and therefore Emerald’s as well. While you don’t like being babied, Emerald had always kept track of your life in general. Which you are very grateful for since it’s still occasionally hard to keep track of time. You flop back onto the couch behind you as you wait for Emerald to finish preparing lunch. You press a button on the table in front of you that turns on the widescreen TV. Hopefully you'll find something interesting to watch by flipping through the channels.

“New popstar debuts in VRAINS—”

Oh god no. You quickly switch the channel.

“Blue Angel’s live show draws to an end! Prepare yourself for a show-stopping finale!”

She wears a bright smile as she commands flashy duel monsters to attack her opponent. You're mildly interested in the duel, but the fact that she’s most likely dueling in VRAINS prompts you to switch again.

“Welcome back! Today we are looking into the Knights of Hanoi! In Link VRAINS, they have—”

Click. You give up for now. It doesn’t matter where you go, virtual reality has permanently etched itself into the daily happenings everywhere in the world. Den City is famously known for being the home of VR dueling. Even from across the world in the United States, one could barely find a teen your age that hasn’t logged onto Link VRAINS.

You reach down to a pocket on the side of your pants and pull out your deck. You spread out the familiar cards on the table. Bored, you pick up a trap card and thumb the edges as you think. Not many people play with the physical cards nowadays. You usually play with your mom, but she’s not here. Maybe Emerald can play? It’s been awhile since you’ve requested a duel from her.

You drag a long sigh while packing up your deck and place it back into your pocket. A heavenly smell wafts from the kitchen to the living room. The smell picks up your mood, and your hunger. You hop off the couch and lightly skip into the kitchen. You’re determined to stay on the positive and enjoy what Den City has to offer. Most likely, you are going to spend the rest of your high school here, so why not make the best out of it? Emerald places your favorite food for lunch onto the kitchen island while you get utensils. You dive straight in and let out a delightful sigh as you savor the flavor.

Perhaps when you're done visiting the school and your new therapist you can look around and see how Den City has changed. Maybe scout out a new place to relax outside of home.

You were apprehensive before, but now you decide you're going to enjoy Den City, even while surrounded by the virtual world. You may be back in a place that harbors the darkest times of your childhood, but with a lot of work, you know you can have a better life here than you ever did in California.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The reader pairing is new on ao3 (and the Yusaku/OC pairing only has 5 other works as of now), so I don't have any expectations that anyone will end up reading this. I'm mostly writing this for myself since I didn't see anything on this site that adds an OC into the story or involves a relationship with Yusaku. It's kind of a sub-plot, though. (with VRAINS' intense plot and Yusaku's personality, this will be a hella slow burn). I also want to add a new arc and explore what the characters are like outside of VRAINS. Gotta write what I want to read, I guess. I hope I do him and the other characters justice.
> 
> If anyone _does_ end up reading this, let me know what you think with kudos and comments :)  
> I have no experience writing fanfiction (so please lower your expectations a lot), and please be gentle if you leave a comment :)  
> Edit 7/9: I found it much more appropriate to put a certain segment at the beginning instead of chapter 4.


	2. Turn 2 | Getting Started

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We find out our protagonist's name and learn a few more things about her as she goes about her first day in Den City.

**Turn 2 | Getting Started**

“Miss Roka, it’s time to get up.” 

You can distantly hear Emerald and your loud alarm over the sleeping music. Emerald gently nudges you again. You slowly drift away from dreamless sleep. Once you come to, you sit up and stretch your arms up high. No dreams means today might be a good day.

You cover the huge yawn that falls from your mouth with one hand and pop out your wireless earbuds with the other, all while scooting off the edge of your bed. You put them back in the case on the table next to your bed.

Emerald patiently waits for you to rub the sleep out of your eyes. She follows you into your closet and talks as you pick out your clothes for the day. “Good morning, miss. Breakfast will be ready as soon as you arrive downstairs. I’ve sent reminders of today’s tasks to your phone.”

“Alright. Hey Emerald? How far is the school from here by bike?”

“It is fifteen minutes by bike.”

“Nice. I’ll go there first thing.” Thinking ahead to the school year, that works really well for you. You bypass the robot in the closet’s doorway and move into the spacious bathroom. You place your clothes on a hook against the door and gaze at your reflection in the mirror.

Your light amber eyes look straight back at you. You close them, and breathe in.

_One, two, three._

And breathe out.

_One, two, three._

On the count of three you open your eyes and plaster your best civil smile. 

You almost look a bit comical, with a bunch of white strands sticking out in a bunch of directions from your bed hair.

Your shaky smile drops. You are not looking forward to brushing through _that_ monstrosity.

With a sigh, you grab your toothbrush and get ready for the day.

* * *

_Oh my god._

Den City High School looks like a mini-university! You lock your bike in the rack as you ogle the building. It actually intimidates you a little, despite there being very few people around. The budget for a school this size must be huge!

You trek up the many steps and push open the front door. Automatically, you look for the front office and find it on your left. You walk inside and approach the front desk, where a woman taps furiously on her keyboard.

“Um,” you squeak to get the receptionists attention. Once her eyes land on you and she stops typing, you clear your throat to talk in a more stable voice. “My name is Teruko Roka. I’m here to pick up my schedule and uniform for the school year, please.” You hope you're using the right formal language to address her. You’ve mostly only ever spoken Japanese with your mom.

If there is anything wrong with your speech, she doesn’t seem to notice. She gives you a polite smile and pulls out a scanning device. “Sure! Do you have an ID I can confirm your identity with?”

You’re prepared for identification. “Yes, I have my passport with me.” You hold it out for her to scan. Upon seeing the blinking green dot on the scanner, she puts it away and brings out your school ID and schedule from a drawer. She hands them to you and starts to leave.

“I’m going to get your uniform for you, I’ll be back in a few minutes.” 

You simply nod and sit onto a nearby chair to scan your schedule. You skip straight over the required core classes and move to the bottom. You’re mainly interested in seeing whether you got your requested elective classes.

> Elective Classes:
> 
> Advanced Computer Architecture
> 
> Music Technology

You squeal in excitement! You were afraid the school wouldn’t allow you to take the computer engineering course. You’re still celebrating by the time the receptionist gets back with your uniform.

Quickly, you compose yourself and stand to receive your uniform. As she hands it to you, she says, “You may personalize the school uniform however you like. Just make sure you wear a tie, the white shirt, blazer, and the skirt. Any personalizations must be within school guidelines. School starts in two weeks. Do you have any questions?”

Already, you start critiquing the uniform. You most likely won’t wear the sweater; with the spring humidity, it might suffocate you. You put a reminder on your phone to get a new color tie for the uniform, too. 

“None, thank you.” You give the lady a goodbye, neatly fold the uniform in your hands, and head out the door.

Your phone pings in your pocket. You’re sure that’s the therapist reminder.

You put the clothes in the bike’s front basket after unlocking your bike. With your phone’s GPS supplying the route, you ride in the direction of her office.

* * *

Being in a new therapist’s office always makes you feel a bit queasy.

You bounce your leg up and down on the soft plush chair on beat to the music playing in your headphones. You chose classical because it keeps your nerves to a minimum. Doesn’t stop your leg bouncing, though.

She’s filing through a few papers that most likely detail your case. Your mom said she’s good, that she’s dealt with clients with a similar background to yours. The thought doesn’t quell your nervousness. Your leg keeps bouncing.

“Can you hear me through your headphones? Would you rather keep them on?” She speaks softly, but at the same time doesn’t regard you as something easy to break, like glass. You like her voice. It meshes really nicely with the instrumentals.

“I can hear you fine. I’d like to keep them on if I can.” You politely fold your hands and sit up straighter on the chair.

Her dark brown eyes flicker to your rigid posture. “Of course, please feel free to do whatever makes you comfortable here.” She puts the papers down on the low table in front of you. “Well, it’s wonderful to meet you Miss Teruko Roka. My name is Dr. Sakai. How would you like me to address you?”

“Teruko is fine.” You mostly grew up with nearly everyone addressing you by your first name in America. Now that you think about it, you might need to get used to people calling you Roka.

Dr. Sakai nods and continues, “Your mother transferred your documents and treatment records. I see your treatment is doing really well. How was the move from California to Japan? I’m sure the plane ride was rough.”

You nod and give her small details about your plane ride here for the sake of conversation. Your mother told you to ‘try to warm up to Dr. Sakai’ before your trip. You don’t want to trouble your mom, so you tolerate the questions. She asks about your life in California. You tell her just the surface level about your tough experience in elementary grades during your first years of therapy and your homeschooling since then. You're pretty open about your inexperience with talking to people your age and share your wish to get better when you start public school. Dr. Sakai keeps her attention on you and comments that your intent to improve will make a lot of things easier during the school year, and that you shouldn’t stress too much about it.

The conversation flows smoothly and your body posture relaxes as you start to get comfortable talking with her. At least you were, until she calmly asks the question you know she has been building up to, but still dread all the same.

“Can you tell me a little about your experience in the _Lost Incident_ ?” There’s a weird, low emphasis on the words, as if she _knows_ just how much saying the words may affect you and didn’t want to risk dissociation.

You were a child back then, though. ( _You still are_ , you remind yourself.) Now you can keep your mind on the conversation, yet your body further stiffens and inwardly curls into the couch’s cushion.

“I don’t want to talk about it right now.” _Or ever again._ You like to think that since you’ve opened up to enough therapists in the past and progressed well enough in the past few years, you can allow yourself to push back the memories. Honestly, if you had a choice, you didn’t want to see another therapist. You know that she knows what happened to you in the papers; it’s redundant to say it out loud.

You are determined to leave all that baggage in California.

“That’s fine, we don’t have to talk about it right now. Don’t force yourself.” Dr. Sakai immediately drops the topic, which you are extremely grateful for. You still have a dreading feeling that she’s going to bring it up again very soon. It’s her job after all.

“Thank you for coming here today, Teruko. From our conversation, it seems you’re doing well. If you want to schedule a meeting earlier than our monthly check-ins, you can text me with this number.” She hands you a slip of paper over the table. You take it and place it into your pocket. “Say, Teruko, you don’t know anyone your age in Den City, right?”

Cautiously, you respond. “That’s correct.” Though you are eager to have at least one friend, you were lowkey hoping you wouldn’t have to interact with anyone your age for another two weeks.

“I have another client who’s been through the same trauma as you. They’re very quiet and don’t open up to anyone, even family. Perhaps you can talk to them?” Underneath her professional expression you can see a hint of desperation in both her eyes and voice. “You don’t need to talk about the incident, in fact, I’d actually prefer you not to. I just need them to open up to someone, and according to your records, you seem to be progressing very well. You could even ‘get practice’ talking to someone your age. It could be beneficial for both of you.”

Your eyes widen at the prospect of meeting another victim of the incident. You kind of get why she’s requesting that of you. Your case is somewhat of a success story, considering your mom and last therapist deemed you stable enough to live independently for a while (minus Emerald). The part about talking to them will help you learn how to talk to teens seems doubtful. If they’ve been through what you have, you know they won’t be ‘normal.’ And you want to distance yourself from any reminders about your trauma. 

The instruments that have been playing up until now pause for a violin solo. A single violin plays a slow and sweet melody that carries you to more empathetic thoughts.

But maybe they need help? Your heart feels for them, painfully aware of how hard it was for you to finally find something cathartic to bring you out of the deep dark. Even then, you know you’re not completely healed, but you feel pretty close to fully recovering. It was only possible with the massive amount of support you received over the years. You don’t think you could have been who you are without your mom. The idea of being able to pull someone out of that dark is appealing to your empathetic soul.

You’ll think about it.

“Maybe. If I end up going, please don’t expect much.” A very non-committal answer. Dr. Sakai smiles and leans back in her chair, happy with your response nonetheless.

“Alright. Just text me with that number at least three days before you want to visit, if you’re ever interested. I’ll give you the address of the place if you do.” Your clear apprehension must have shown on your face because she lightly laughs and says, “Don’t worry, you won’t be alone. I’ll be there, too.” She stands. “That will do for today. Good luck in school Teruko. Don’t hesitate to call me if you need advice!”

You thank her and stand up as well. Before you leave, you ask “Do you happen to know any place I should visit in Den City? I want to explore, but I’m not sure where to start.”

“How about Den Plaza? It’s about lunchtime, and there are usually food stands around. Lots of parks to relax. Not too far from here either. ” She walks you to the exit and gives you directions to the plaza from her work phone.

“Thanks. I’ll check it out. See you soon Dr. Sakai.” You smile and give her a polite wave before heading out.

* * *

Den Plaza is a lively place. Under the shade of your tree you view the people enjoying the park behind you. Bustling people move back forth across the main plaza, while some sit on blankets and watch the big screen TVs.

There’s suddenly a big uproar from the center of the plaza that you can hear through your music. You freeze and stop working from your spot on your bench to look up at what caused it.

From the looks of it, it seems a duel has been broadcasting. You didn’t notice before. Two duelists face each other, one clad mostly in white, while the other wears a black and green bodysuit and has bright yellow, pink, and red hair. Based on the statistics overlaying the broadcast, the one in white is losing by a wide margin.

You think there’s some words being exchanged by both of them, so you take off your headphones to listen.

“Linkslayer! Attack! Meteor Slash!” The corresponding monster launches into the air and lifts its double bladed arms high into the air to slay the monster named ‘Hack Worm.’

The second the worm is destroyed, the duelist in white flies back from the impact and his LP drops to zero. It looks like a normal duel, so you move back to put on your headphones. But then he scrambles back away from the other duelist in what looks like… fear? It makes you pause and listen in. 

“Damn you! Why are you interfering with Hanoi…?! Who the hell are you?!” His exclamation rings from the speaker and hushes the excited audience to a murmur. 

Hanoi? Didn’t you hear that on a news channel yesterday?

“Knights of Hanoi.” His voice holds a heavy accusation, like his opponent has made a grave mistake trying to duel him. The camera zooms in on the winning duelist’s silhouette.

“Wherever you go, I will be there.” The camera pans squarely onto the duelist’s face. You snort at the dramatic tension you can practically feel building up from the audience.

“My name…” 

“...is Playmaker!” 

The crowd roars in excitement and familiarity, as if they're watching a live superhero save the world one more time.

Playmaker, huh. You think about the duelist as you pack your laptop in your messenger bag. He obviously has quite a few fans if he garners this big of a crowd during a duel. Unlike the cheerful charisma exuded from the duelist Blue Angel, he seems much more serious. The gaze he gave the ‘Knight of Hanoi’ was pretty intense. Duelist rivalry gone too far, maybe?

With your packed bag slung over your shoulder, you head over to a nearby food truck called ‘Cafe Nagi.’

You stop in front of the serving window and peek over the opening. Is the truck serving? 

Inside, there’s a man hunched over something in the side that you can’t see.

“Hello?” you say uncertainly, and wave at the man inside.

He makes a weird choking sound and you can hear him slap a button somewhere. He rushes over to you by the window. He smiles apologetically and cheerfully responds. “Sorry, sorry. Would you like to order?”

“Yes.” You breeze through the menu and select your meal. “I’ll have two hot dogs and a soda, please.” He nods and starts grilling your hot dogs while you listen to the newscasters' comments on Playmaker’s latest duel.

Apparently, he’s been dueling these Knights of Hanoi in order to get some kind of information on them. The female newscaster keeps ~~fangirling~~ speculating on who Playmaker could be in real life, which leads you to believe he’s managed to remain anonymous so far. You don’t know how people can be so interested in an artificial appearance. Isn’t he just an avatar? He could literally be anybody. In real life, he could act differently from what he acts like virtually.

“You’re not from around here, are you?” The hot dog man places the grilled dogs in the buns. 

You turn back to him and nod your head, affirming his curiosity. You must’ve looked really confused at the screen for him to be able to deduce that. 

“Playmaker’s a new duelist. I’ve seen some of his duels broadcasted here a few times.” He hands you the bag, and you exchange it with the exact price in cash.

“Oh? Is he really popular?” If he’s going to be something you will be hearing about everyday in school soon, you might as well be knowledgeable about it. 

“Not really, though he’s got a few fans here and there. He mostly duels a group called the Knights of Hanoi. Nobody knows what’s going on between them. The plaza broadcasts a bunch more interesting duels and shows, most popular would be the Charisma Duelists. They’re not competitive. They mostly duel to entertain.” He rings in your cash and clears the grill. “You might like Blue Angel. Hope you enjoy Den City!”

“Thanks!” You probably won’t look her up, but thank the cheerful hot dog man anyways for both the food and information as you make your way to the plaza’s exit.

If a small-time duelist generates that kind of crowd, you wonder how big a crowd a Charisma Duelist would bring. 

It’s getting late, and you’ve got to call your mom soon.

You bike home and retire, thoughts lingering on what else you need to do to prepare for school.


	3. Turn 3 | The Little Things

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Teruko shops a little and finds a gem of a store in the mall. She also meets someone in need and can’t help but try to reach out.

**Turn 3 | The Little Things**

You’ve finally found the color! Hands up on your hips, you turn and the skirt swishes in the same direction. You’re pretty proud of yourself. The deep burgundy tie brings out your eyes.

There is a rainbow of solidly colored ties on the bench of the changing room. They are either too bright or too dull, or clash with either the uniform or your natural purple highlights. Den City’s most popular shopping center, Hateshinai Mall, just has so many options to choose from! But you think you’re satisfied with the style and amount of clothes you’ve chosen to buy.

You exit the changing room and move towards the counter for checkout, three full bags in hand. Once you’ve paid, you leave the store to wander around the mall.

The mall is _dense_ , especially in the shopping area you’re in. So many people shuffle in and out of stores that sell clothes, devices, antiques, and jewelry. Speaking of jewelry, you pass by a small kiosk selling pins. You glaze over the options and pick out a simple, silver star shaped pin. It kind of resembles the stars in your room.

While you hand small cash to the nice-looking lady manning the kiosk, you side-eye a store across the mall packed full with customers. Up above, the name ‘SOL Technologies’ lies under a blue and black mobius-looking cube. If you remember correctly, your mom used to work there. Back then she used to develop AIs for VRAINS NPCs and newer duel disks, you believe. You walk over to see what they're selling that’s so in demand. 

In the display window you can see watch-like devices with screens. Your eyes trail over the sign that advertises new cards, duel disks, and Link VRAINS cosmetics.

A twinge in your chest makes you wince. You weren’t expecting SOL Tech to still be leading in the VR dueling industry. Of course there’s a big crowd at a VR dueling store.

Moving along... You wander around aimlessly and window shop, but nothing really appealing prompts you to go into any store for a few hours. You almost decide to go back home, but in your peripheral vision a glint catches your attention.

Swiftly, you backtrack and briskly walk towards it in utter disbelief. 

From the span length of the display windows giving a view inside, it's a pretty small store. What caught your attention was the shiny monster, trap, and spell cards facing you. 

_No way!_

You delicately put a hand against the glass as if touching any of the cards will make them disappear. Beyond your reflection and the cards on display, you see a multitude of cards on racks, just asking, no, _begging_ to be played!

You haven’t seen a duel shop in _ages_! You rush in like it’s your birthday, and it may as well have been with the way you gawk at the cards. Most are in packs with other support cards of a deck archetype. A few rarer ones sit majestically on the top shelf, standing alone. Their shiny sheen separates them from much more common cards. 

“Can I help you?”

You jump a little. Looking around, you can’t clearly see where the voice originates from. Now that your tunnel vision is off the cards, you notice no other customers are here. You peek around one of the racks and see an older man with salt and pepper hair sitting behind the counter. “Oh! Hello! I’m just browsing.” 

He leans in his chair while you flip over a pack to read about its contents. “Ah, I see. Nice to see a young duelist interested in the old physical cards. It’s all data now.” 

“Yeah,” you simply acknowledge. Playing the game with the physical cards was already an uncommon occurrence when you were born. By the time you were able to pick back up the game last year, most people kept their decks on online dueling platforms. You and your mom had to buy cards online and get them shipped, or sometimes find that one rare duel shop like this. “I suppose you don’t get many customers.”

The guy behind the counter sighs frustratedly. “Not many buy the cards. The few that do come in want their card data printed with my card transference printer.”

It’s possible to take data and use it to generate a Duel Monsters card? That’s pretty cool. “I’ve never heard of technology that could do that.” 

“Mostly because rarely anyone really needs such a thing.” You wonder, how’s he still in business, then? Might be the older generation, you guess, judging by his looks. 

You go back to browsing and tip on your toes to reach a rare spell card. You start reading its description. The green card reminds you of Emerald. Will she need a deck if you ask her to play with you? 

After reading the card’s description, you decide it’s not for you and place the card back where it was. You always beat her whenever the two of you played. Most AIs don’t duel very well, or at least not against your expertise. Makes sense, considering the countless times you... 

The thought trails off and instead, you let your eyes wander. You grab two rare and interesting spell card that might make some cool combos with your current deck and walk towards the man to pay for the card.

Besides, she’s supposed to be a caretaker robot and not a dueling one. Actually, do duelist robots even exist? Perhaps the update made her AI smarter in general, but you doubt the actuality of that impacting her dueling.

The man is delighted you’ve found something to buy. “I’m definitely coming here again,” you tell him with a wide grin. You accept your new purchase wrapped in protective plastic from the man’s hands. 

He returns it. “Bring a friend and I’ll give you a discount next time.”

You laugh a little at that. “Thanks! I hope I get the chance!” You brightly wave him goodbye and exit in a much better mood than before.

* * *

_Three days._ There’s only so many mixes and tracks you can make to entertain yourself for _three days straight._

You’re sunk so deep in the plushy, navy-blue loveseat it practically engulfs you. The only thing you’ve done is go out for school materials yesterday. You deeply regret not buying a deck for Emerald then. 

The living room TV is streaming a pretty dramatic movie where spies dodge bullets and crack codes. You can’t hear it though, because your headphones are on and blasting a pretty upbeat remix you made last year. It clashes with how lethargic you feel right now. Tracks like these usually give you energy to do _something_ , but recently you’re so exhausted to even go to the mall. It’s just like that sometimes and you know you have to ride the wave of sporadic exhaustion out. 

An electric violin rapidly crescendos above the other instruments, which makes your eyes widen. You forgot that part was there.

The violin solo reminds you of Dr. Sakai and her request. You emerge from the inside of the loveseat to pick up your phone on the table and open up your contacts. All the contacts from your American phone have been transferred to your Japanese phone and you deleted your old therapists’ numbers. Now, the list only includes your mom, Dr. Sakai, and one sibling you haven’t talked to in years. 

He most likely doesn’t know you got a new Japanese number, probably doesn’t know you even _moved_ , but you keep his number anyway because a small part of you still wishes on shooting star that he’ll call back someday.

You sense your thoughts darkening and your energy depleting again. You click on Dr. Sakai’s number before you lose the nerve and start composing a new message, still riding on the burst of spontaneity the music gave you earlier. 

When you delete the message for the fifth time you stare at the phone and ask yourself, _do you really want to do this?_

_What’s to lose?_ For you, nothing actually. It’d be good to get fresh air and talk to someone besides your mom. You remember the desperation in Dr. Sakai’s voice. This person she wants you to meet is clearly still struggling to live with the effects of the incident. 

After three years of being able to survive a week without a panic attack and less nightmares, you feel indebted to those that helped you along the way. You’ve never really thought about the other kids before. Knowing that one might still be stuck in that gloom kind of makes you guilty. 

If you could do just a little to move them into the light… 

Resolve hardened, you edit the small text a thousand more times and then _finally_ send it.

> Hello Dr. Sakai, it’s Teruko. I would like to visit the person you mentioned at our appointment, if that’s okay. I know you said three days, but can I come in as soon as possible?

You go straight back to sulking in the couch until you hear a ping not even five minutes later.

> Of course! You responded at the most convenient time, so I can get you in tomorrow if you’re ready!

* * *

The bike lock clicks into place and secures your bike to the pole outside the wellness center. It almost looks welcoming if it didn’t remind you so much of your elementary days.

You heave your messenger bag over your shoulder and look for Dr. Sakai in the waiting area.

She stands tall beside a door. Her heels only add to her natural height. The straight yellow hair you saw her with the other day is pulled up in a messy bun that exposes the black tips you didn’t notice at your first appointment. Before you can say anything, she flips towards your direction.

“Afternoon, Teruko! I’m glad you could come here so quickly!” She clasps her hands in elation. Her peppy mood contradicts the professional vibe you got from her first impression.

“Good afternoon. Truthfully, I was pretty bored and didn’t have much to do. Did something good happen?” You’re curious as to why she’s so excited.

Dr. Sakai waves nonchalantly and gestures for you to follow her. “Nothing in particular, just happy you’re here.” Oh? You’re just speculating, but from her desperate tone from before and her excitement from you willing to talk to her client, you guess this particular client means a lot to her. You swell in warmth knowing she seems to genuinely care.

“May I know their name?”

“His name is Jin Kusanagi. Like I said, he’s very quiet. I’ll be in the room with you if you need anything or ever feel uncomfortable and want to opt out. You don’t need to do this, you know.” She stops in front of a door with the same name on it.

You know that, but after some hard thinking yesterday you know in your heart you want to help in any way you can. “I know,” you say softly, “It’s just that nobody deserves to have gone through what we did.” You clench your fists and look down at the floor. “I was pretty secluded after the incident, and a lot of personal things happened at once that only toppled on that. But my mom was always a constant, and never gave up on me, even though she knew I couldn’t be the same child again. I kind of want to be that person, who never gives up on people.” 

You splutter, surprised at your own mushy mini-speech. Heat rises to your cheeks; you didn’t mean to spill so much! You try to backtrace and recover. “Y’know, sincewe’vebeenthroughsomethingsimilarIjustkindawanttohelpanywayIcanand—”

Her giggle interrupts you and your rambling. It’s not in mockery, though. It resonates across the hall and makes your ears heat up even more from embarrassment. When she simmers down, she gives you a smile. There’s something about that smile that makes you feel like there’s something sadder beneath it. “Breathe, Teruko. I get what you mean. Thank you for being so earnest. Ready to go inside?” She grasps the doorknob and looks at you expectantly.

You still have slight nerves. What kind of person will you see on the other side of the door? 

You close your eyes, breathe in, count to three, and breathe out with another count of three.

“I’m ready.” Upon your confirmation, she opens the door.

The first thing you see is the rumpled up bed in the corner of the room. Everything else looks oddly untouched.

A boy with long and shaggy purple hair is curled up to his knees and looks out the windowsill. That must be Jin Kusanagi. Dr. Sakai enters the room first and you follow. The boy turns his head to Dr. Sakai once he hears footsteps.

You can't get a clear side view of his face because so much of his hair covers it. 

“Hi, Jin. I brought someone that you might want to meet.” Dr. Sakai steps to the side and gestures to you.

You muster a bright smile, look up to make eye contact, and try to introduce yourself. 

Keyword _try_ because you fumble once you see his eyes.

His dull, purple eyes are _empty_ . Completely glossed over with a blank shade that prevents any sort of emotion from being expressed on his face. He doesn’t react in the _slightest_ to your presence.

Your heart squeezes painfully. You can’t bear looking directly at him for longer and look at his nose instead. 

“H-hi. M-my name is Teruko Roka.” Your fingers fiddle with the earpads of your headphones once you finish introducing yourself.

The pause you left afterwards was intended for him to introduce himself, but he doesn’t say a word.

You know better than most that people can go through similar events, yet the intensity of PTSD can still vary from person to person. But to see him still like this after _ten years_ makes you think you’ve overestimated yourself and what you can do. 

Still, you gather your courage to sit down next to him and unpack your bag. Dr. Sakai looks on, curious. 

“Can I call you Jin?” He doesn’t respond. You turn back to Dr. Sakai, and she nods encouragingly. 

Normal people start conversations with their hobbies, right? You’re afraid to discuss Duel Monsters, so you opt for your second favorite activity instead. 

“Well, you can call me Teruko, if you like. I create music. It really helps me relax.” You pull out your laptop and look through the files dated back to almost five years ago. “I made my first track when I was eleven.” You click play and wait anxiously. The track is a bit wonky because it was your first, but it still clearly emits melancholic vibes. “This one starts with a bass solo. I actually didn’t know what they were back then; they’re kind of these really, _really_ big violins.” You gesture wildly around while trying to depict the enormity of a bass. “Basses have a way lower range of notes compared to a violin.”

Jin just looks at the computer with the same blank stare. 

The track gets lighter and faster as younger you got excited and toyed with different instruments. You remember it so vividly that the memory plays back in your mind as you point out the instruments and functions of the music composition software to Jin. 

Most importantly, you explain how it all connected back to what you were feeling at the time, without mentioning any specifics of your life. 

Jin keeps his dull eyes on the computer, but his unresponsiveness doesn’t deter you. It only strengthens your resolve to help him get better. 

You’ll save him, in your own little way. 


	4. Turn 4 | First Day, First Encounters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Little snips of Teruko's first day.  
> Please mind the tags.

**Turn 4 | First Day, First Encounters**

The bike ride to Den City High School is much busier compared to your first visit. 

A few students with your school’s uniform ride bikes in the same way as you, and more and more students congregate into one slightly larger mass the closer you get to the school.

It’s a bit suffocating and only increases your anxiety for the first day. You can’t even wear your headphones because of your helmet, and the obvious hazard it would be to block out sound on the road.

While you pedal to the bike parking areas, you think about the last week. You saw Jin the following Saturday after your first visit, but his demeanor did not change at all during the second one-sided conversation. That’s okay, some things take time, and you’re a patient person. You had asked Dr. Sakai if you could come every Saturday to visit him, and she said it should be fine once she checks in with a family member of Jin’s. Otherwise, you haven’t done much last week, besides calling your mom and her wishing you best of luck on the first day.

You lock your bike and start making headway to the entrance of the school. The walk is long, but the pretty sakura trees you see occasionally creates a serene atmosphere. You look through your phone to find one of your tracks that fits the ambience and play it on your headphones.

Most students wear blue ties with their uniform, but you can see a few sprinkles of colored ties here and there. Very few girls wear the uniform without the sweater, you realize. The observation makes you want to scrutinize your own appearance.

You use the phone’s mirror to judge your outfit. Without the sweater, your white shirt is tucked into the high waist skirt of the uniform, which stops short halfway down your thighs. You don’t complain about the height because you wear shorts underneath. The burgundy tie you bought the other day is tied neatly with the star shaped pin on the knot, and its length almost reaches the skirt. Your white and purple hair is pulled up into a ponytail that cascades a little past your shoulders, and you left two locks of mostly purple hair on each side of your head. You flick your eyes back up to your face and stare at it. You don’t do makeup, but maybe you should start?

The open doors of the school now lie in front of you and makes you force yourself to stop worrying about your appearance for the sake of getting to class on time. You fiddle with the cards in your pocket with one hand while you dig through your school bag with the other. Looking through the school-issued tablet you pulled out, you find a digital copy of your school schedule. 

DCHS students have two core classes before the first elective, then break for lunch. Students then go to their second elective and back to their main classroom for the remaining core classes. You peer at the map to find your main classroom and find that the way there is so long and convoluted, it makes your head spin just looking at it.

Head tilted up, you glance up at the looming building. Your chest expands and contracts as you perform your normal breathing exercise to soothe your anxiety. 

You enter the building, one foot in front of the other.

* * *

Your classroom has a lecture hall style seating, with two students to a single row. The room is huge! 

You plop down in a seat in the middle of the room, not too close, but not too far back either. Most students have already arrived and are seated, but no one occupies the seat next to you.

That is, until one minute to the first bell, a short guy with green hair and eyes rushes to the seat.

“Yes!! I just made it!” He doesn’t really regard you at first as he falls into the seat.

You turn to him to say hi, but the bell interrupts you. The teacher walks in and surveys the classroom as he descends the steps. He introduces himself as Mr. Matsuo and welcomes the freshman class to DCHS. Mr. Matsuo starts to take attendance and calls out student names, one by one.

You hear your name before the student beside you, and say “here!” As the teacher continues down the list, you try to listen to each name and associate a face with it whenever the called student raises their hand.

“Naoki Shima!”

The guy beside you raises his left hand high and waves it back and forth excitedly. His sleeves are rolled up so you can easily see a basic AI-version duel disk on his wrist.

“Here, teach!” So that’s his name.

You keep your focus on the teacher when he starts talking about the introductory material for the class and scribble a few things down until--

“Psssst!”

You stop your pencil and turn to Naoki Shima, giving him an incredulous look. The teacher is talking!

“What’s your name?” he whispers, or at least tries to because he whispers a tad bit loud to call it a whisper.

He didn’t catch your name during attendance, apparently. 

“My name is Teruko Roka.” 

“Nice to meet you! I’m Naoki Shima!” Shima points a thumb at himself.

“I know that,” you simply say.

“Whaaaa? How?”

You incline your head toward the teacher. “Attendance.”

“Oh yeah…” You take his voice trailing off as a signal that this conversation is over, but not even ten minutes later he nudges you with a finger.

“Well Roka, do you play Duel Monsters?”

You shift amber eyes to him again. “Yeah, but not the VR version, before you ask.”

“Haaah?” He gasps _really_ loudly in disbelief. His exclaim catches the attention of the teacher, to your dismay.

Mr. Matsuo narrows his eyes on the two of you. “Roka and Shima, please quiet down.”

You shrink in your seat as many eyes turn to the both of you. “Sorry, Mr. Matsuo!” Shima has no shame when he says that, but at least he doesn’t bother you for the rest of class.

The bell rings to signify that students are free to go to their electives. If you remember correctly, you have about ten minutes to get to your computer architecture class, which isn’t that far. You still have a little time to talk to Shima, if you can muster the words.

Shima decides for you because he stands so rapidly the chair skids and makes a screeching sound against the floor. “Roka, you haven’t been to Link VRAINS at _all_!?” He has a disbelieving look on his face and points accusingly at you. 

“I’ve never been, yes. I do play Duel Monsters, though.” You finish packing your bag and pull out your main deck. He’s eyeing it curiously, so you hold it out to him. “Want to see?” 

“Heh, let’s see how good a duelist you are.” He snatches your deck and looks through the cards. You look on warily. “Wow, they’re so girly!” He laughs at them, but you don’t really feel all that offended.

“They might be, but I bet I could beat you with it.” You grin, knowing this might ignite a competitive flame if he really does duel.

And like a prideful duelist he takes your bait and scoffs. Shima puts his fist on his chest and boasts, “Pssh, I have more monsters with higher attack! As if some non-VR duelist could stand against _me_!” 

You think you're supposed to take offense to that, but you just shrug. “Not everything is about attack points, Shima. Have you ever won a duel in VRAINS?”

He gasps _again_. “Whaaaat! Link VRAINS is only for veteran duelists and Charisma Duelists! You can’t just walk in there!” He crosses his arms. “Not that you would know.”

You doubt the validity of his statement. You’re pretty sure literally anyone can go there, good duelist or not. One doesn’t even need to be a duelist. You hold out your hand for your deck and Shima gives it back, acting really smug.

“So you’ve never been to Link VRAINS?” You side-eye him as the two of you walk together up the stairs.

His smug look drops and he looks away from your stare with a guilty smile. “Link VRAINS is just not ready for Lonely Brave, yet!” He dodged the question. Is he not confident in his dueling skills? His attitude then does a rapid 180 and he swishes towards you, puffing his chest and pumps up his fist. “Though, I could teach you some things or two, non-VR duelist.”

You blink at him, silent and just a tad bit judging.

“You have a deck, but you haven’t dueled with it. Why would I want to get taught by an inexperienced player?” You’re honestly confused, but Shima reels back, indignant. “I don’t mean to call you out or anything! I just want to understand.” 

He easily brushes off your comment. “Since you’ve never been to Link VRAINS, you wouldn’t understand. I bet Playmaker would!” The two of you are now in the hallway. You open your tablet to the map.

“Playmaker?” you ask as you swipe through your tablet’s contents. You thought he was a small-time duelist.

“Yeah!! Not many know about him now, but he’s going to be big soon! He’s been dueling this hacker group called the Knights of Hanoi and…” Shima falls into a long-winded rant about how great and awesome and charming Playmaker is. He’s such a fanboy _._ You tune out for most of it, but you appreciate the familiarity in his voice he uses to talk with you.

“And you’ve got to see the cards he uses! It’s nothing anybody’s ever seen!”

“Do you have a video?” You put your tablet back in your bag, almost ready to leave.

He deflates. “Nobody does! There’s only glimpses of him on broadcasted duels around VRAINS.”

“Aw, that’s too bad. Anyways, I’ve got to go. It was nice talking with you! I hope we can be friends!” You give him a genuine smile.

“Me?! Friends with a girl? On the first day, too!” He gushes to himself, which you find a bit weird but dismiss it once you look at the time.

“Yes, I am female, if you haven’t noticed that as well. I’ve got to get to class, maybe we can meet for lunch by the cafeteria doors?”

Shima’s eyes widen. “Yes, yes, yes!” 

You beam at his enthusiasm. You’re elated, you've got your first friend! “See you!” You hold up your hand in farewell and walk off to your computer class.

“Huh? Noooo!” In the distance you can hear Shima wail. “I’ve only got three minutes to get to the other side of the building!!!” You look back to see him scurrying away. The sight makes you bring your hand to your mouth to cover the laughs that bubbles out. 

Today’s going well!

* * *

You spent quite some time talking to Shima. By the time you get to your elective almost all the seats are filled. All that remains are seats in the very front, and only one at the back.

The seats in the front are too close for your liking. Instead, you take the seat in the back next to a guy with dark and bright blue and pink hair.

Your interaction with Shima has given you a bit more confidence. Channelling that confidence, you greet the student next to you with a smile. “You’re Fujiki, right? I think we share the same core classes! My name is Teruko Roka.” 

Fujiki shifts his eyes to yours. They’re an emerald green, unlike Shima’s lime ones, and they funnily remind you of Emerald back home.

“Oh. Hello.” He turns back to the front. 

He’s wearing an old-style duel disk on his wrist, the kind that requires card insertion. You brighten; he might actually play with physical cards! “I see you have an old duel disk! Do you happen to have—”

The bell interrupts you _again_. Not wanting to disturb your classmate, you focus on the class and decide to talk to him later.

As soon as the bell rings, you try to engage him in conversation.

“Hey Fujiki! I—” You stop with a start. The seat next to you is _empty_.

Fujiki is already walking out the door.

How did he leave so quickly? _That was a bust_ , you think. But at least you have lunch with Shima to look forward to.

* * *

You tap your foot rapidly against the cold floor of the cafeteria, waiting for Shima. Most students are already in line, but you have the homemade lunch Emerald made sitting untouched on the table. The area is much louder than you’re used to, so you have your headphones playing to block out some noise.

 _Where is he?_ Did he forget? Are you going to have to sit _alone_?

“Oi! Roka!” You sigh in relief at hearing his boisterous voice. You take off your headphones and wave Shima down to your table. He’s brought his lunch, too.

He sits down and immediately babbles on and on about his elective class and Duel Monsters while you listen to him and eat your food.

All of a sudden, he turns the conversation on you. “Are you a foreigner, Roka?”

You choke on the water you’ve been drinking. “Why do you think so?” Is it your skin tone? You’re a bit more tanned than most Japanese, but you don’t think it's that uncommon.

“You talk so formally, it’s weird.” 

“Ah, sorry, I was born here but I moved to California when I was six. I just came back a few weeks ago. I haven’t spoken Japanese much with anyone else other than my mom.”

Shima’s eyes sparkle and he asks you what the US is like. You give him the most details you can, but Shima carries the conversation all by himself so you don’t say much. He shows you his favorite duels of the top Charisma Duelists Go Onizuka and Blue Angel. Idly, you think Blue Angel’s burn deck might be fun to go against. Go Onizuka’s Goukis also seem like a good challenge, too, if they ever played the in-person game. You don’t enjoy watching duels in Link VRAINS, but you bear it for Shima’s sake because he’s just so passionate about them. How could anybody squash the excitement on his face?

Soon he asks you, “Are you joining Duel Club?”

“Duel Club?”

He leans back in his chair, disappointed. “Tsk-tsk, of course! If you were a true duelist, you would’ve known there’s a duel club! The first meeting is tomorrow.”

You ponder, maybe you can find people who play Duel Monsters in real life there. The club must be pretty popular. “Sure, why not.”

“Heheh, they’ll be so amazed to meet the next famous duelist, Lonely Brave!”

“I’m sure they will, Shima.”

* * *

You’re starting to realize just how clingy Shima is.

Once the two of you return to class, you try to introduce yourself to other people. But Shima always barges in, inadvertently affronts them, and talks incessantly about dueling despite his clear inexperience.

It drives people away from you two. It’s frustrating, but at least Shima doesn’t seem to be doing this on purpose. Mingling time before the next class ends and you still haven’t made any proper acquaintances.

“Oi! Roka look!” In your seat, you see Mr. Matsuo bring in a bunch of VR headsets. 

From what you hear, your class will be using them to get a snapshot of the time histories in Japan your history class will cover.

The teacher passes them down the rows of students. Shima passes you yours and already starts putting his on.

“Wow, it’s so realistic! Roka, you’ve gotta get a look at this!” 

You barely hear him because you're too focused on the headset laying in front of your desk.

You don’t want to wear it, you _can’t_ , it looks too similar. Too similar to the one you’ve worn as a child. You can feel your heart quicken, beating faster at the prospect of putting it on. Your stare remains on it for a long time.

Soon, everyone around you is already wearing it, and Mr. Matsuo is already looking at you expectantly from his spot in front of the room. The pressure from everyone around you wearing it without a problem gets to you. You don’t want to stand out. 

With trembling hands, you grasp it and put it on.

It was a bad idea from the start. You don’t see what everyone else can. 

There’s a layout of a digitalized dueling mat, and your side is completely empty and cleared of any monsters. Both your breath and heart stop at the familiar sight. Your stomach is churning, painful and _empty_ , despite having lunch less than thirty minutes ago.

You _know_ what is coming. You need to get this headset off, _fast_.

You try to lift your left hand, but a familiar yet nonexistent weight is pulling it down and you _can’t move it_. Your right hand tries to wrap around the headset, but a sharp jolt of electricity makes you freeze.

You can’t _breathe,_ but you feel yourself hyperventilating. You're viciously trembling in your seat _,_ but you _can’t control_ your own body _._ Tears start to stream down your eyes and flood out the headset. You don’t want to be electrocuted again, you thought _you had finally left!_

The AI commands his monster to attack you, and the monster obeys, jumping over your field to attack you _directly._ The shaking gets worse and tears continue to fall faster and in bigger globs.

“ _Help_ ,” you rasp, but you can’t tell if anyone hears you because the room around you suddenly feels much, _much_ smaller.

The monster slashes you, and you scramble off your chair onto the floor. It causes a loud crash on the floor and you crawl backwards, trying to get away from something that is not actually there.

**_YOU LOSE._ **

Quiet wails pour out your mouth and you curl up in a ball on the floor when you see that terrible, terrible red screen. Your right hand futilely grasps the white hairs on your head and you mess up your ponytail, trying so hard to get the headset off. The edges of the virtual screen start to darken. 

“Please,” you cry, quietly. “Get it off me!”

The headset is clicked off your head, and the world blacks out.

* * *

Soft and fluffy sheets rub against your skin.

Your eyes flutter open and you immediately squint them at the bright light. 

_Where am I_?

“You’re in the nurse’s office.”

Disheveled hair falls in front of your face as you sit up. You push it aside to see a petite lady sitting at a desk a bit away from the cot you are lying on.

“I fainted, didn’t I?” You can still feel faint electricity running through the tips of your fingers.

“Yes, and you gave your class quite a scare. Are you alright?” She walks to your cot and checks you over.

You lean your head down and cover your eyes with your hair again. “I’m sorry. I will be.”

“Well, I’ve called your mother. You’ve been excused from the rest of the school day.” Her voice is laced with doubt and worry, and already you can tell the nurse is going to keep a close eye on you. Probably an instruction from your mother.

Now you’ve done it. You’ve worried both the nurse, your class, _and_ your mom.

Once the nurse finishes fretting over you, you grab your school bag, which has been lying in a corner of the room. You wonder who brought it… 

But your curiosity is dimmed because _oh my god_ , you’re going to have to go to school _tomorrow_.

And you just had a panic attack in front of your _entire class_. 

Outside the school, you raise both hands to rub at the tears starting to build in your eyes. It’s been _months_ since this has last happened, and although you were reluctant at first, you thought moving would finally put everything behind.

Today was a painful reminder that the memories are a part of you, and no matter what, you can’t ever truly escape from it.

* * *

The white Ignis has been a fugitive, fleeing from the Knights of Hanoi’s capture attempts and narrowly escaping SOL Technologies’ security scans for years. 

It’s looking for something, but it isn’t sure what that is yet.

All it knows is that it needs to get its memories back from the Knights of Hanoi and find something. Or was it someone?

Flitting through the network, a new and familiar connection tugs on its code and halts its wandering through Link VRAINS.

 _Ah,_ it realizes what this pulling tug is. This is something it remembers clear as day.

It’s the only option the Ignis has at this point. 

The Ignis follows the sensation that will lead it to its Origin, Teruko Roka.


	5. Turn 5 | Restart

**Turn 5 | Restart**

“You don’t have to go back.”

Her voice is gentle and reluctant. Very unlike the headstrong director persona she projects during presentations. It’s a voice reserved only for you. Even though she’s trying to be kind, every time you hear the sound it fills you with guilt.

The sidearm of the love seat perching your neck gives a nice angle of the room. It allows you to quietly examine the chandelier adorning the ivory ceiling overhead. You’ve since changed out of your school uniform for something much more comfortable, and your belly is full with the meal Emerald prepared by the time you arrived home. No doubt your mom notified Emerald of your early arrival.

“I can arrange for another homeschool teacher to come straight to the house and teach you the same curriculum. In fact, let me-” rustling sounds echo over the phone. “I have a list of well known educators available to homeschool daily near Den City. I’m sure I can get someone to start—”

“Wait!” Eyes wide, you uncross your legs that were lying on the other sidearm and sit properly on the love seat.

Your mom pulled up a list of potential teachers too quickly. Was she prepared for something like this to happen? Did she not think you would make it through one day? 

_She’s right though_ , you realize. A heavy frown sets on your face. You didn’t even _finish_ your first day of school. The swirling thoughts leave a bitter taste in your mouth and make you grip your phone a little bit harder. It was just one day, that doesn’t mean you can’t go to school anymore. You _have to_ , because what’s the point of being here if you can’t change? 

The beats of silence after your outburst may have lasted a little too long, because your mother tentatively breaks the quiet. 

“Are you okay?”

“I won’t be if I’m stuck in a house all day, momma. I’m sorry I worried you, I’ll just… try to be more careful. I really, _really_ want to go back.” She doesn’t want a repeat, and neither do you! Just thinking back to earlier gives you shivers, but you want to be able to experience some things like going to school _normally_.

 _Might have ruined the chance for that, though_.

“Star, you just can't avoid some things. I don’t want to put you in an environment that can easily trigger you. I do think it’s for the best if you continue homeschooling,” she insists.

The near finality in her tone is grating. She _always_ makes decisions like this for you! “Momma, please just give me a week! If it goes well I want to continue school. I’ll even talk to Dr. Sakai weekly if it makes you feel better!” Mentally, you groan after saying that. It’s not that Dr. Sakai isn’t a nice person, but having to visit a therapist _every week_ feels like you’re still the same broken little child that needs to be coddled and taken care of every time the trauma flares up. It defeats the whole purpose of starting anew.

Though, it does assuage your mother’s worries. “Alright. But if you have another attack this week, please agree to the homeschooling. I’ll let the teachers know a little about your… condition. We’ll see how it works from here, okay?”

“Okay. Thanks.” 

With that, you cut the phone call and put a hand on your forehead to overshadow your eyesight. Your chest expands and deflates and in your mind, you count to three. That conversation was exhausting. And you can’t even be mad; her worries are justified. It’s times like this you wish you never went out alone that night, never agreed to your brother’s wish to play in that secluded area of the park. The place that got you _kidnapped, tortured, and separated your_ —

Slowly, you breathe in and out and count to three, _again._

 _Stop dwelling on the past, you can’t change it_. It’s wasted energy to think about that night, and the time afterwards. And you really don’t want to think about tomorrow.

It’s best to live in the now. 

You peek through your fingers. Your headphones lie on the table beside your deck. Both items are calling for you. An idea blossoms in your mind and brings a small grin to your face. If there’s anything that can bring you out of lower spirits, it’s a new instrumental and the adrenaline of a duel.

Reaching out a hand, you heed the call. 

Once the headphones lie snugly on your neck, quick fingers swipe your deck and swift feet to take you to the kitchen. The carebot stirs impatiently in a corner, very eager to be noticed.

You clutch the cards in your right hand and wave it around to get her attention. “Hey, Emerald! Would you like to duel again? Just like in California.”

Emerald tilts her head curiously. Metallic eyelids conceal the light glow of her eyes. If she had a movable face, you were sure she would have smiled.

“I would love to, miss.”

“Great! The day is still young, so I’m heading out to the mall! I know a duel shop where I can get cards for your new deck. I’ll also bike to the plaza straight after. ” The bubbling excitement in your voice grows from being surrounded by people no doubt living livelier lives than you. The perfect distraction! You could also work on some new music tracks, too. In a hurry, you rush to your closet.

Hangers clatter as you swish through many clothes to find the perfect jacket. Minutes later, you grab a random one and walk back into your room. 

Your favorite messenger bag sits on your bed, exactly where you left it. You snatch it up from its spot and carefully slide your laptop into one of its pockets. 

While you hang the bag over your shoulder and walk out the room, your footsteps slow to a halt. Your gaze falls on the telescope standing innocently near the door.

It’s a bright and bold red color. Not obnoxious, but it does stand out in the violet, blue, gold and silver shades of your room. The black edges of the lenses are littered with small chips from years of use. 

The sudden nostalgia hits hard. It reminds you of your brother, and nights spent gazing at the stars. His face is kind of fuzzy in your mind, but you can still hear his voice clearly.

* * *

_"What are those three called, Teru?” Your brother traces three of the brightest stars in the sky._

_On a particularly clear night, two young children lie flat on the grass and admire the night sky, untainted by light pollution. Stars reflect on the crystal water in the distance._

_The girl's face is buried in a book, only exposing the short, white strands on her head._

_"That’s O-ry-on’s Belt,” you answer, tracing the constellation in your book. “That one’s pretty. The book says he’s a hunter.”_

_He scrunches up his face. “A hunter? He must hurt defenseless, little animals. That’s terrible!” Offended, he points at the constellation. “Orion’s Belt is now Orion’s Dragon. You see, that’s his head, that’s his claws, and that’s the tail!”_

_You remove the book from your face and sit up. “You can’t just change a constellation!” Round cheeks puff up in childish frustration.“That’s not what the space scientists said! And dragons are just as mean as hunters!”_

_“They’re called astronomers. Dragons are way cooler. I think the hunter would love being a dragon.” Your brother flaps his arms to mimic a dragon on the grass._

“Wouldn’t it be cool to be something different?”

_"I like the way everyone is now. Just you, me, momma, and papa. I don't want to be a scary monster.”_

_He sits up. “You’re so boring, Teru.” He ruffles your hair with a brotherly smile on his face._

_“Hey!”_

* * *

“Something different.” You hum, thinking. From what you remember, he was always so curious and a softie at heart. Despite your age at the time, this memory is very prominent for some reason.

You shake your head to snap you out of the trance on the telescope. You need to stop reminiscing about things that won’t happen again.

However, nostalgia betrays you. Maybe you’ll go stargazing tonight, you decide as you walk out the front door. See what kind of view Den City has to offer.

* * *

You did end up buying Emerald at least one hundred cards to choose from. The look on the shopkeeper’s face! The plaza was busy as usual, the perfect environment to play with your music software.

It was late when you got back home. Too late to play Duel Monsters, according to Emerald. You had digressed—it’s never too late for a game. Still, you allowed her to usher you to bed. Sadly, you realize, you forgot your plans to stargaze. But it's for the best because you were going to need all the energy you can for tomorrow.

The night passed way quicker than you hoped. Now, you’re all dressed up and packed for school. All you have to do is mount your bike and make it past the block... 

“Miss, you have to get going, or else you’ll be late,” Emerald chirps.

“I know, I know.” No more procrastination! It’ll be alright. Hopefully if you tell yourself that enough times it will actually be true. Nonetheless, you instill blind faith that you’ll somehow make it through today.

“I’ll see you later!” You give Emerald a parting wave. She waves back in her normal robotic manner. You turn forward, ready to—

A sharp, stinging feeling makes you wince. _What?_ You halt just as your foot was about to hit the pedal.

The sudden urge to check behind you arises. It's surprisingly strong, like if you didn't the feeling would nag you all day. You peek over your shoulder to see Emerald, frozen mid-wave. Her yellow lens are looking straight at you. You wait for her to notice you staring, but no movement occurs for at least a minute. It’s unnerving.

“Emerald?” 

The robot jolts in response to her name. She starts functioning and proceeds to continue waving.

You wave again, really slowly. Her momentary pause was really weird. Emerald has _never_ malfunctioned before. And what was that feeling?

You shrug it off; there are bigger things to worry about right now. A big push on the pedals sets you off on your route to DCHS a second time.

* * *

Emerald waves until you’re out of sight. It drops it's hand immediately.

"Ugh, I've finally cracked it. Humans and their ridiculous security measures."

The voice that comes out of the robot is... uncharacteristically _not robotic_.

It slams the door with more force than necessary. Rolling over to the living room, it puts a hand on the TV's frame.

The circuits on Emerald's hand start to glow upon contact. The light spreads through the TV and generates static on the screen.

"Now let's see... how should I go about this?"

For a brief moment, Emerald’s eyes flicker from its normal yellow to an ominous, icy blue.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you made it this far, I applaud you. This is the last exposition chapter, so things will start to pick up from here.  
> Thank you for reading!


	6. Turn 6 | Enigma

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Teruko meets the duel club and an enigma.

**Turn 6 | Enigma**

“Roka, you’re alive!”

Somehow, Shima spotted you from the stream of students on their way to class and made a beeline in your direction. You’re surprised he’s even approaching you after what happened yesterday.

Standing up, you brush off the grass on your skirt and blazer to make yourself more presentable. You glance down to meet his eyes with yours. “You thought I was dead?”

“No… but are you alright? You kind of broke down yesterday, and you missed the rest of class!” His eyes gleam with genuine concern.

You put up a shaky smile. “I’ll be fine, thanks for asking… Are you excited for Duel Club? I did promise we would go together after school.”

Shima eagerly fist pumped the air. “Of course I am! I’m about to defeat everyone in that club, just watch!"

His excitement elevates your own. Checking your watch, you note, “Can’t wait to see it, but we better start heading to class if we don’t want to be late, yeah?” 

You lead the way, and Shima trails right behind you, catching you up on what happened after you left school yesterday.

* * *

Today was much easier compared to the first day. Unfortunately, most conversations with your classmates were very awkward, no doubt due to your display yesterday. The fact dampened your mood for the rest of your day.

Shima does stick to your side like glue, and for that, you’re grateful. At least you aren’t alone.

This time, Shima leads you two to the Duel Club room, his tablet in hand for the directions. You both stop in front of a door appropriately named “Duel Club.”

“This must be the room.” Shima grabs the handle and opens the door.

Inside, you see… only five people. Isn’t dueling extremely popular? Maybe this club is only for the extreme fanatics. Already seated were three guys and the only other girl besides you in the room.

“Welcome to the Duel Club! Are you planning on joining this year?” The only student standing maintains a straight posture and has bright eyes behind yellow frames. “My name is Hosoda, third year and president of DCHS Duel Club!”

You open your mouth to introduce yourself, but Shima is quicker. “I’m Naoki Shima! I put my pride on the line during duels!” He proudly puts a fist on his chest, and you look on curiously. No surprise there. The three guys gasp in awe and Shima soaks it all up. “In my duels, I’m full speed ahead! I won’t back down! I always move forward! My goal is to become the top duelist!” 

After each sentence, the three boys gasp in admiration of his confidence. Wow, Shima is impressing you quite a bit. You’ve never seen his deck, but his words actually make you want to believe in his dueling skills.

“Actually, within the top 50.” You snicker at the quip while everyone else is startled by his admittance.

President Hosoda remarks, “Then you’re not reaching for the top.”

In Shima’s defense, you give him a thumbs up. “Hey, I think it’s a pretty good start!”

“Thanks, Roka.” Shima rubs his head in mild embarrassment. 

Hosoda adjusts his glasses. “I appreciate your passion and enthusiasm. But just those.” 

The attention of the club then turns to you, expecting you to introduce yourself.

After a quick breath in, that’s exactly what you do.

“Hello everyone. My name is Teruko Roka, and I’m a freshman. I’ve always loved the game, and I hope to have some interesting duels and learn a lot here! Unlike a lot of people, I only play with a physical deck,” you pull out your deck as proof. The other members look at it with a lot of curiosity. 

“Roka, Shima, welcome to Duel Club! You’re not the only one with a physical deck, though.” Hosoda holds up a physical deck. Your eyes brighten more when two other male members hold up physical decks of their own.

“I look forward to duelling all of you!”

After you, introductions continue. The short guy with dark red hair pulled up into a ponytail is second year Tanaka. The large guy with teal hair glossed into a spike and wired rimmed glasses is second year Sato. The lanky guy with distinct eyebrows and a mullet is freshman Suzuki. Finally, the girl with light brown shoulder-length hair and eyes to match is freshman Aoi Zaizen. You don’t think any of the freshmen are in your main class, which is a huge relief.

You sit between Zaizen and Shima while President Hosoda goes over club procedures. 

Stealthily, you lean closer to Zaizen and whisper, “It’s nice to meet you, Zaizen! I hope we get along.”

She faces you with big, blank eyes. “I hope so, too.” 

You can’t really figure out what to say next, small talk doesn’t come easy. To avoid the blanket of awkwardness starting to settle, you nod back to her in acknowledgement and face the president. Hosada is now explaining the basic rules for Master Duels.

The tips of your fingers lightly drum against the table, excited for the memories you’ll no doubt make here.

* * *

Once you return home, Emerald isn’t at the door to greet you, like she usually is.

“Emerald? I’m back!” The click of the door behind you resonates through the seemingly vacant house. You never realized how much life Emerald brought to your house.

Without her, the place feels a lot more empty. Chills run your back at the thought of being the only one around. 

You let your feet guide you into the living room in search of the bot. There, you find her powered down, as evident by her dark eyes and retracted limbs.

Carefully, you drop your bag onto a cushion and approach Emerald to see what made her shut down. A smooth, stark white cord is connected to her backside, and curls around her body. Is she charging herself?

Your hand glides along the taut cord that leads you to something on the table. Your fingers brush against a white old-style duel disk, colored with accents of gold and purple.

A phantom electric current runs through your hand, making you jerk back in a flash to remove your hand. It painfully feels as if you just got shocked, but the ghost feeling eventually fades. You _definitely_ don’t own any duel disks, so why is _that_ in your house?

More and more questions swirl in your head, giving you a headache. Perhaps mom has answers? You sit on the couch and bring out your phone to dial mom.

“What… why?” Once you turn your phone on, the screen turns completely white. You furiously tap the screen to get a response, but to no avail. This phone is new, so why is it acting broken?

You rub your forehead. Just when the day was going so well, too. 

The duel disk looms on the table, and it's making you very uncomfortable. You don’t want to touch it; maybe you can use Emerald and her connection with it to drag it across the room?

You start by edging Emerald further and further away from the table. The cord is taut with the duel disk, and you slowly slide it to the edge of the table.

“ _Hey! Don’t do that!_ ”

Right before the duel disk was about to fall, a little figure pops out from it and _bellows_ at you.

You shriek.

“Oh my god!” In your fright, you jerk the cord and the duel disk falls to the floor anyways.

“Urgh… I just said _not_ to do that.” 

“It speaks!” You’re deaf to its moans, and it takes you only half a second to brandish your bag high above your head, ready to smash that cursed duel disk to pieces.

You swing the bag down heavily. Halfway through, your swing is interrupted by a metal arm.

The metal arm belongs to Emerald, and you breathe a sigh of relief. “Emerald, thank goodness! Why are you connected to a duel disk? What’s the thing coming out of it? _Why does it…_ ” 

The words die in your throat once your eyes connect with the robot’s. You drop your bag in your stumble back on the floor. 

Emerald’s eyes are a foreign blue, a stark contrast to her usual warm yellow.

“What’s wrong with your eyes?” 

She doesn’t respond and remains still in place.

Static sound then fills the room. You flip your head to the TV. _You didn’t turn it on._

“You need to calm down.” 

There’s no comedy playing on the TV, or news either.

Displaying on the TV screen behind a green background, piercing blue eyelights narrow at you making you sink into the floor, feeling small. The eyelights center on a white face lined with intricate gold markings you’ve never seen before.

“What- what is going on?” Your lungs take in big gulps of air, and you can feel yourself on the verge of breaking down. Way, _way_ too many things are going on at once.

“I won’t have to hurt you, if you cooperate.” The thing’s feminine voice is graceful and authoritative, very alike to a ruling queen.

“That, that sounds like a threat! Who’s hacking my house? We’re supposed to have top-grade cybersecurity!” After all, your mom leads in her tech company and certainly has the money to afford the best of the best cybersecurity.

“Hmm, then it seems the best of commercial cybersecurity can’t beat AI,” _it_ notes haughtily.

 _AI._ “So someone is using this program to hack houses? I-, I can’t believe I’m conversing with a program like this.”

“Make no mistake, _human_.” It spits out the term with inexplicable venom that makes you sink further.

Hijacked Emerald picks up the overturned duel disk and holds it upright in front of you.

“I…” The top of the duel disk turns purple as the TV fades back to black.

A white figure pops back out from the duel disk “... am no ordinary AI.” 

The white figure resembles a very lean hourglass, with its shape stopping right at what looks like a waistline. The same intricate gold marks line the white figure and blue eyes with eyelashes stare into your own. 

“What,” you breathe, captivated by the slightly glowing figure, looking tangible and ethereal at the same time. “Are you?”

“Were you listening? An AI.”

“No, that can’t be right. Why would you have a hologram, and be able to hack my entire house and-” you glance down at your still-white phone, “did you do this as well?”

“That is correct. And I am an AI. I have, what you call, free will.”

Free will. The power to choose and to act on one’s own self. You’ve heard your mom talk about it before, when you asked if Emerald was able to do things she wasn’t programmed for. Apparently such a thing occurring would mean she gained free will.

_“An AI gaining free will marks the demise of humanity, no matter how you look at it.”_

Her voice echoes in your head, laced with disdain and a foreboding warning.

If your guards weren’t up before, they are sky rocket high now. “What do you want?”

“I want your help, Teruko. Quite frankly, I don’t care if you want to help or not because you’re the only lead I have.”

“How do you know my name? How do you even exist? And what could I possibly-”

“You’ve asked enough questions. It’s in your best interest to help me considering you have no way to contact someone and I possess all your personal information… let’s see…” The AI scrolls through many projected screens. “Your family’s credit card information, private records, your mother’s unreleased prototypes, not to mention full autonomy over your robot and all the electronics in the house…” 

You don’t need the AI to spell out the underlying threats that accompany all that information. You can’t believe you're getting _blackmailed_. “I understand! I’ll listen.”

The AI hums, satisfied by your cooperation, and closes the screens. “Wonderful. Now listen carefully.”

“My home, the Cyberse, was attacked…”

* * *

The AI details its memory of the attack on its homeland, and the brutal destruction it describes does emerge a twinge of sympathy from you. Apparently it even has companions captured in the assault. What catches your attention in its story is the Knights of Hanoi. You feel like you’ve heard of them before.

“My memory of the past is still very fragmented from the dragon’s attack, but I retained memories of the actual attack and everything after. A strong connection led me to you soon after you arrived in Japan.”

“That’s odd. Do you happen to know what the connection is? I’m not a piece of tech, after all.”

The AI stays eerily silent, not divulging any information. “I don’t have time for any questions. I really wish I never needed to rely on a human, but here we are. Are you joining me on my search voluntarily, or will I have to resort to other means?” It crosses its arms and impatiently taps its fingers.

“Voluntarily! Voluntarily! Please don’t touch my family’s information, _please_.” Though it's not really voluntary when you’re blackmailed.

“Good. You’ve made the right decision.”

You huff, like you have a choice. Hopefully you can get details on the Knights of Hanoi and just hand them over to the police to continue the search. You had no intention of engaging with them directly. “So, the Knights of Hanoi. How do we start looking for information on them?”

“In Link VRAINS, of course.”

You recoil at its quick answer. “Um, no, sorry, that place is a no go for me.”

“Why not?”

You shift in your seat. “I’m deathly afraid of dueling in the virtual world, or entering virtual worlds in general.”

The AI narrows its eyes. “And why is that? From my understanding, Link VRAINS is pretty popular with your generation, and it's perfectly safe to enter.”

“How come you get to ask all the questions? I’m not comfortable telling you, and I can guarantee I’ll be no help in Link VRAINS.” Where did that spontaneous spurt of bravery come from? You have no idea, but you relish in your defiance. So far, this AI has completely controlled this conversation.

“That’s fine, we can compromise. We should still be able to gather information in the real world.” The white figure seems satiated for now.

“So we have a deal then, Teruko? Your help in exchange for your information’s safety?” The figure extends a white arm, probably expecting a handshake.

You slowly approach its hand, extremely hesitant to shake it, but you do anyway. “It seems so.” To your continued surprise, the handshake is firm and warm. You can feel slight electricity run up your arms from the figure’s tangible hand. “Wow…”

“Wonderful.”

The handshake breaks apart, and you just can’t help but ask: “Do you have a name? And can AIs have a gender?”

“Technically, I do have a name, but it is not in a language humans can understand. For various reasons, I identify as female.”

“I cannot be calling you ‘the AI’ all the time, you need a name.”

It sighs in annoyance. “I have no desire for one. But if you must, you can pick a name for me.”

Suddenly, the fact that this is a very dangerous AI slips from your mind momentarily as you search your mind for a suitable name. “How about Luna?” 

“A name representing the moon. I assume it’s based on my appearance?” You nod. “Alright, it's Luna then.”

“It was… interesting meeting you, Luna. Can you please put Emerald back the way she was, and make my phone start working again?” You wave your phone in the air and place your other hand on the poor hijacked carebot.

“On the condition you refrain from notifying anyone of my presence, of course.” You bite your cheek, withholding your protests, and nod again.

“Very well.” Luna’s eyes display a series of lines as she relinquishes her command over your electronics. You can tell she does because Emerald’s eyes return back to normal. 

“I’ve modified her memory storage so that she won’t be suspicious of me.”

You barely register Luna’s remark and hover your hands over Emerald, face scrunched in concern. “Emerald, are you alright?”

Her robotic voice chirps, “Yes, I am, Miss. Why wouldn’t I be?” 

“Ah, nothing. It’s wonderful to see you.”

“Thank you, Miss. I should get started on dinner. I will let you know when I’m finished.”

In a flurry, Emerald goes back to her carebot duties without a hitch.

Emerald being back to normal now lets you breathe a sigh of relief. You still remain wary and keep your defenses up once you turn back to Luna. “So… what now?”

“I’ll let you process things today. I’m sure this is a lot. We start our investigation tomorrow, though.”

“Tomorrow?!”

“It’s imperative we begin as soon as we can.”

“But I have school!”

“Then bring me with you.”

Your eyes widen. “With the duel disk and all?”

Luna scans you up and down judgingly, then gestures to her holographic body connected to the duel disk. “How else?” She retorts, voice dripping in bitterness.

You collapse into the couch and whisper, “What have I gotten myself into...” 

Luna tilts her head and does - what you assume is - an eye roll.

* * *

Really, you had no idea of the mayhem you were in for.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed the chapter!


	7. Turn 7 | Calm Before the Data Storm

**Turn 7 | Calm Before the Data Storm**

“C’mon please, please fit!”

The bulky duel disk just can’t fit in your bag, no matter how you arrange the bag’s contents. You’re going to run late if you don’t take off on your bike soon.

Luna deadpans at your futile efforts. “Just wear it on your wrist, like everyone else.”

“Wear it?” You cringe. “Why are you so insistent on coming to school with me, anyways? It’s not like I’m going to learn anything about Hanoi there.”

“I refuse to stay locked up in your house for that long.”

“Fair enough, I guess.” At least you can keep an eye on the program. With furrowed eyebrows, you turn the duel disk one more time in your gloved hands. 

“Oh!” You click open the duel disk’s bracelet part and close it over the strap of your school bag, making sure to tighten the bracelet so the disk is secure. “Now I don’t have to wear it. You ready?”

“Finally. Yes, let’s go.” Luna has taken on a different form in the duel disk right now. She kind of looks like an eye - her light blue iris is surrounded by gold lines. Luna’s singular eye blinks.

After you slip off your gloves, you shift the headphones around your neck and get on your bike. 

* * *

At school, you slightly bob your head to the rhythm of the music playing in your headphones while you scan the crowd. 

“What are we waiting for?” Luna stirs.

“I’m looking for my friend, Shima.”

“What’s his full name?”

“Naoki Shima. Why?”

“Naoki Shima… hmm…” Luna scans the school courtyard. “He’s right over there, northeast of you.”

You look in the direction Luna references, and sure enough, Shima’s there, walking closer to you. It doesn’t seem like he’s seen you yet.

“Combining the data of his features, I classify him as subpar in appearance.”

Aghast, your face scrunches in offense for Shima. “Luna! That is so rude! You can’t just judge someone like that.” Luna rolls her eye. “How did you even know it was him?” 

“It’s not hard to access the school’s public record of students. The public record includes a picture of each student in uniform.”

“Wow.” The fact that she can access so much information in a few seconds makes you even more uncomfortable with her presence. By the time you look up from your bag, Shima is significantly closer. “Hey Shima!” You broadly wave to catch his attention.

“Hey Roka!” He jogs the rest of the way to you. He immediately notices the dangling duel disk. “Oi, you have a duel disk?!”

“Haha, yeah…” Please don’t ask why, please don’t ask why--

“I bet you finally got one ‘cause of Duel Club!”

“Ah… Yes! Yes, totally!” _Thank you for the excuse!_

“I knew it! So when are you going into Link VRAINS?” He leans in closer and you can see sparkles in his eyes.

You gently push him out of your space. “I don’t think I’ll actually head there anytime soon.” 

He visibly sinks in disappointment. “That’s too bad.”

* * *

You're almost done packing up in your last class of the day. 

“Roka, you _have_ to come to Den Plaza today!”

“Why, what’s happening there?” You rack your brain for any events, but remember none.

“How could you not know? Blue Angel is having a big duel today, and we are finally going to get the date of the Charisma Championship!”

“Charisma Championship?”

Shima flings his arms out in grandeur, exclaiming, “Yes, the Charisma Championship! It’s only the biggest and most anticipated tournament in Den City! Charisma Duelists from not only Den City but _the whole of Japan_ gather in Link VRAINS to compete for the title of Charisma King or Queen!” Shima’s mouth is going a mile a minute and you're having trouble keeping up.

“Who won it last year?” You interrupt him.

“A duelist named Phoenix. She’s a retired duelist now, which gives Blue Angel better odds to win this year!”

“Okay fanboy, let’s go to Den Plaza then.” 

“Alright! One sec, I’ll grab my bag!”

While Shima scurries away, you plan what you’ll be doing at the plaza. You know you won’t be investing too much time observing the virtual duel (you’re only there to indulge Shima), so you might as well do something productive. You could work on a new new composition, but really you should work on that math and history homework before it piles up-

“I hope you didn’t forget you agreed to help me.” 

You flinch, startled, and hold up your bag to your face.

“Shh! And I know, I haven’t forgotten. I just don’t know where to start.”

“The internet of course! Must I spell it out for you?”

You open your mouth to quip back, but a low voice resonates in front of you. “Who are you talking to?”

You slowly remove your bag from in front of your face to see Fujiki’s bored expression. 

“N-no one!” Your cheeks start to feel hot, betraying your embarrassment.

You continue to stand there until Fujiki shifts uncomfortably and speaks up.

“You’re in the way.”

He’s right, you are standing right in front of the door, blocking the path. “I’m so sorry!” Fujiki just nods and leaves class. _That was so embarrassing_. You would have to be more discreet when talking with Luna.

“I’m ready Roka! Get ready to see one of the most amazing duels ever!” Shima’s back and pumped up for the upcoming duel.

“I’ll be the judge of that! Let’s go!"

* * *

Oh jeez, the plaza is _packed_ , way more than normal. You’re staring bug-eyed into the crowd, starting to regret indulging Shima. 

“Roka, come on! I think I see a bench!” You let Shima drag you to a bench on the outskirts of the crowd, somehow miraculously not occupied yet. 

“There’s still some time before the duel starts, right? I’m going to get a headstart on homework.”

“Homework!” Shima exclaims, disgusted. “Don’t miss the duel! I’m going up front for a better view.” He pushes his way into the plaza center and disappears amidst the crowd.

You take this opportunity to set up your laptop and place the duel disk next to you in order to give Luna a view of your screen.

“Okay, step one: Google.” You type ‘Hanoi’ in the search box. The search results mainly include content related to Vietnam’s capital Hanoi and the occasional article about the Knights of Hanoi. Were the Knights of Hanoi Vietnamese? An interesting topic was the ‘Tower of Hanoi.’ A mathematical strategy puzzle consisting of rods and disks of different sizes. The point was to move a conical-shaped stack of disks to another rod in the same shape you started with. Looking into its origins, you find the puzzle is connected to various religions and myths. The most popular story is about religious priests that move the disks of the Tower of Hanoi, and once they complete the puzzle, the world will end. Fascinating, but you really don’t understand why the Knights of Hanoi would name themselves after such a game.

You voice these thoughts aloud. “Why’d they name themselves Knights of Hanoi? I can’t really see a connection.”

Luna pops out of the duel disk and props her arm on the duel disk to support her head. “I can’t figure that out either. I could care less what they call themselves, just that we find out what they want from me and get them to tell me where the rest of my fellow AI are.”

“Welcome to the expo duel of the Charisma Championship!” The audience roars in response to the announcement. The noise is really messing up your concentration. “For this year’s expo duel, we have Blue Angel!” Said duelist jumps into view of the leftmost screen once her peppy theme plays. The audience claps along to the beat, and you can’t help but tap your feet to the catchy tune.

“Her opponent is Glitch!” A slender young woman in a green suit (clearly inspired by her name) steps into the right screen. She’s not accompanied by any special music, but she does give an impressive display of glitch-like effects and fireworks. Though not as loud as Blue Angel’s cheer, the crowd roars for Glitch’s appearance.

“Stay tuned for the date of the Charisma Championship after this duel! Ready duelists?” Both women nod their heads. “Ready, set-”

“Duel!” Both women shout. The duel commences, with Glitch going first. 

At this point, you put your headphones over your head to tune out the noise. You pick a soothing composition to increase focus.

This time, you input ‘Knights of Hanoi’ into the search bar. It garners significantly less results than ‘Hanoi,’ but you do see a few promising articles.

“Hey, this article looks promising. It says the Knights of Hanoi are considered a small hacking group, since nobody can figure out their identities. They always delete their data once they leave. The Knights of Hanoi used to hunt down duelists with Cyberse cards. According to this, the group made Cyberse-type cards extinct five years ago. They also stopped the flow of the Data Storm at that time.”

Data Storm… what’s that?” You address Luna. She simply shrugs and stays silent.You huff at her silence; she clearly knows something. Her refusal to speak irks you, but you focus back on your laptop.

“Well, it does explain why they might be interested in that duelist named Playmaker, or him interested in Hanoi. He has the first Cyberse cards seen in five years. I wonder where he got them. And what he’s after from Hanoi.” Curious, you input ‘Data Storm’ in the search bar. There’s little substantial information, which is surprising. It was still a thing until five years ago, but it looks like it's been just an afterthought with how little information you can find on it.

You sigh and take off your headphones, just in time to witness the end of the duel.

“Since all the monsters I control are Trickstars, I special summon [Trickstar Corobane](https://i5.walmartimages.com/asr/2999349d-7376-4b63-b082-50fe05da4c76_1.9025541becd741f66e636069a2650013.jpeg?odnWidth=612&odnHeight=612&odnBg=ffffff) from my hand. [Trickstar Lilybell](https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/yugioh/images/7/76/TrickstarLilybell-MP18-EN-R-1E.png/revision/latest?cb=20180901014545), attack Glitch directly!” Lilybell rings her bell in a flourish. The sound waves bypass Glitch’s monster and bring Glitch’s LP down 800 LP. “It’s time for the grand finale!” Blue Angel poses as she points to Glitch. “Corobane, attack Glitch’s monster and end this performance!” Corobane follows through and slashes the monster with her staff, breaking the monster into fractals and ending the duel. 

You sling your bag over your shoulder and head into the cheering crowd to find Shima.

“Yes!!! Go Blue Angel!” You lock onto his voice and eventually find yourself next to him. You poke his shoulder.

“Roka! Tell me you witnessed that win!”

“I did. It was a pretty good duel. ” You couldn’t help but notice that Blue Angel’s main strategy is to whittle down her opponent’s LP, but this time she took most of them out in one chunk. Glitch might’ve made her deck to counter Blue Angel’s main strat. Wasn’t enough to beat her, though. 

“Congratulations to Blue Angel!” The announcer echoes from the main screen. “Now, the announcement you’ve all been waiting for! Drum roll, please.” 

Mark your calendars, the Charisma Championship will be held on this date! Tickets go live RIGHT. NOW!”

“What!? That’s only a month away! Why would they plan it so close?”

Shima shrugs. “Don’t know. I wish I could go, but the tickets are so expensive!” He sulks. A dejected aura starts to envelop him.

You shift uncomfortably, not really knowing how to bring his spirits back up. “I could…” you mutter, “ maybe… buy us tickets?”

Shima gasps, elated. But then deflates again. “But, how? They cost a lot!”

“It can’t be too much…” You quickly search ‘Charisma Championship tickets.’ You scroll past the VRAINS tickets to find the real-life live tickets priced at ¥103,000 each. A quick conversion tells you that’s worth nearly $1,000. You flip your phone screen to Shima. “See, it’s not that expensive.”

“Not that expensive!? Roka, are you a rich girl?” 

A rich girl? Are you? You knew you had a decent amount of money from your mother’s work. Would you be considered rich? “I don’t think so. But I can afford two tickets to the Championship. Do you still want to go?”

“Yes, yes, YES! I finally get to go to the Charisma Championship!” He does a little dance with his fist pumped into the air while you input your credit card info to buy the tickets. You’re positive your mom won’t mind you spending $2,000.

It might be fun to see competitive duelists race for the title, even if the tournament is virtual. 

* * *

Routine becomes your life once more. You went to school five days a week, stayed after for Duel Club twice a week, and visited Jin twice a week as well. Out of respect for Jin, you never brought Luna and the duel disk on your visits (despite Luna’s wishes). Days blurred into a month with nothing particularly remarkable happening.

Shima fiddles with his new duel disk, courtesy of Zaizen. Apparently her brother works at SOL Technologies and gave her a few of the new duel disk models before they went commercial. She gave the entire Duel Club a duel disk. She had offered you one, but you politely declined, content with the model you had. It’s not like you would ever get the chance to use it. 

Speaking of duel disks, Luna’s been pressuring you more and more to research the Knights of Hanoi. You tuck your hand under your chin to contemplate. You’re trying, but you don’t have the hacking skills to reach the information Luna needs. This greatly frustrates the AI, and you can only hope she doesn’t threaten your livelihood again.

“Roka! Aren’t you excited? Today’s the day!” Shima stands up and slams his hands on the table, which catches some stares from your classmates. “The Charisma Championship is tonight!” 

“I know, I know, settle down.” You pull on his collar to make him sit back down. “Finish packing so we can leave and get ready for the Championship. I don’t want to be in my uniform the entire day.”

“Hmph, I was planning on going straight there.”

“Shima, the opening starts at 7:30. We don’t need to be there until at least 6:45. That gives us nearly four hours,” you reason.

“Fine, fine.” He begrudgingly heads toward the exit. You two see Fujiki sleeping in the row behind your seats. 

Shima bypasses him. Once you two leave, Fujiki will be the only one in the classroom. You don’t talk with him much despite sitting next to each other in your electives. Still, you decide to do him a favor and wake him up.

You lean down to face level, not too close, and try to nudge him awake with your voice. “Hey. Wake up.”

Fujiki opens his eyes and groggily sits up. “Oh. Hello Roka.” He remembers your name! You didn’t think he would.

Shima crosses his arms. “Whoa! Finally waking up, huh? Fujiki, right?” 

“Who are you?”

“Wah!? It’s been a whole month since school started, and you don’t know your classmates’ names? You must not have many friends,” Shima declares.

“Well Shima,” you interject, “Fujiki did remember my name.”

“Hmph,” he huffs, “My name’s Naoki Shima.” Shima closes his eyes and wears a smug grin while flaunting his wrist obnoxiously. He’s clearly waiting for Fujiki to make a comment about his duel disk, but the taller student starts walking out the door.

Shima opens his eyes once he hears silence. “Hey, don’t you have anything to say to me!” Fujiki turns back.

“Not really.”

“What?! Don’t you know what this is?”

Fujiki finally notices Shima’s duel disk, prompting Shima to brag about the disk and his favorite duelists, particularly Playmaker. Playmaker has been rising in popularity as the Knights of Hanoi start to frequent Link VRAINS more often. It seems like the hacker group is looking for something, but you and Luna have yet to discern what. 

Right now, you can’t shake off the weird feeling that you’re being watched, but a quick glance around confirms it's just you three in the classroom.

“He’s so cool because nobody knows who he is! One day, I’ll become a duelist who fights for justice like Playmaker!”

“Good luck.” Fujiki turns to leave again.

“Hey! Want me to teach you how to duel?” Shima? Teaching someone how to duel? 

“Fujiki, if you really want to know how to duel, I could teach you sometime in Duel Club, if you want.” 

Shima grumbles, “Roka, I offered first!”

“No thanks, to both of you. There are three reasons why I don’t think either of you would be strong duelists or teacher.”

“Three reasons?” you question. “What are they?”

Fujiki lists out the reasons he thinks Shima isn’t a strong duelist, and frankly, you have to agree with all of them. You’ve seen Shima’s deck and playstyle—he doesn’t even have one, his deck is just filled with high ATK monsters—would lead to massive amounts of bricking *****. 

Shima is flabbergasted and slightly blushes in embarrassment, but Fujiki does give him three compliments.

“What’s with this three stuff?” Shima exclaims. 

Then, he turns to you. “Roka. I don’t think you are a weak duelist, but you certainly aren’t a good teacher. One: You wear your disk on your bag, which could possibly damage it. This means you don’t have much interest in dueling, especially in the virtual network. Two: You can’t explain or teach advanced concepts very well. I’ve seen you try in class. Three: Either you share the same faults as Shima in dueling or you haven’t taught him yet. Both indicate you wouldn’t be a good dueling teacher. ”

You do have three positives as well. One: You knew Shima wasn’t the best duelist, so you invited me to Duel Club, somewhere I could learn better if I wanted to. Two: You woke me up before school closed, which was pretty considerate. Three: You and Shima are a pair of loners willing to reach out to me, another loner, so you aren’t that bad.”

Some of his reasons are spot-on and accurate, but you could debate the validity of a few. “If Shima and I are friends, does that really make us loners?” you counter. Fujiki shrugs in response.

“Ugh, fine! Go duel by yourself. Come on Roka, we have a Championship to attend.” Shima grabs your forearm and drags you out the door.

You wave at Fujiki. “Uhm, bye Fujiki! See you tomorrow!” 

“Bye.” He dispassionately waves back and then proceeds to mumble something to himself.

* * *

Multicolored lights beam into the sky. “Everyone! Are! You! Ready!” 

The massive audience roars. Excitement buzzes in the air and pulses through the crowd. Even you are a little excited. The entire plaza is filled, even the park around it. Shima wasn’t kidding about this event being popular country-wide. 

You both had taken time to go back home to change and made it just in time for the opening. Shima surprised you with Blue Angel regalia and accessories. He absolutely insisted you wear some. With Shima being Shima, you caved and let yourself wear a Blue Angel scarf and hold two Blue Angel lightsticks.

“Many Charisma Duelists from all over Japan have gathered in Link VRAINS to compete in the 5th Annual Charisma Championship!”

“Dueling in Arena One is Charisma Duelist Go Onizuka! His Gouki deck of pure strength will surely put on a show!” Go Onizuka flexes on the left screen and waves to the in-game VRAINS crowd. “His opponent will be the illustrious Charisma Duelist Songstress! Both her tunes and tuned Synchro monsters will bedazzle the stage!” Songstress plays a little tune on the harp that materialized out of thin air.

“Dueling in Arena Two is Link VRAINS’ poster girl Blue Angel and her Trickstar deck! Her opponent will be the Aerialist!” Blue Angel’s catchy tune plays upon her entrance while the Aerialist catapults onto the arena with his acrobatics.

“Good luck, Go! Blue Angel! Agh, I don’t know which one to watch!” 

“We can root for both!” You lift up your Blue Angel lightsticks and grin.

“Hah! Of course!”

You both look back up at the screen. It starts to glitch and distorts the faces of the four duelists. The crowd dies down to confused murmurs and the announcer sweat drops, not knowing what’s going on.

“What’s going on Shima?” There’s a little panic in your voice.

“How should I know! Even the duelists look confused!” Blue Angel, Go Onizuka, Songstress, and Aerialist look around worriedly on the glitchy screens.

A sharp pinging sensation surges through you, making your eye twitch. “What is this sensation?” you whisper. It felt like a barrier breaking in your mind.

A second after, a huge black and green dragon flies across the screen in Arena Two. You can barely see what seems to be a Knight of Hanoi standing atop the dragon. 

“Where’s the Ignis?” the knight demands, his voice echoing like static through the glitch screen. _Ignis_? What’s an Ignis?

The sheer power of the dragon causes all the TV screens to black out and crack. Huge shards of glass fall down into the audience. 

“Shima! Shima!” He’s standing wide-eyed in shock as a huge shard is hurled in your direction. “We have to move, now!” You give up trying to coerce him and push him as hard as you can the other way. “Run!”

That snaps him out of his shell shock. You’re right behind him stretching your legs as far as you can. The shard is close behind. You jump, pushing Shima on your way down. 

The shard crashes right behind you two. A very narrow miss.

“Roka! Are you alright? Thanks for saving me!” Shima helps you stand up.

“Besides scraped knees, I’m fine.” Today was not the day to wear a skirt.

You and Shima jog to the outskirts of the plaza, away from the mess of shards in the center. Some audience members weren’t as lucky as you two and needed to be hauled out of the mess on EMTs’ stretchers.

The big main screen is still functional. A horrifying scene broadcasts: the dragon spits out viscous flames that disintegrate the in-game audience in a cloud of red particles. You’ve researched enough on how Link VRAINS functions to know some pain in the virtual world can be translated to real pain. You grit your teeth at the thought. 

“The Knights of Hanoi have never been so aggressive before. All this for the Ignis they’re looking for? What even is an Ignis?” you whisper, quiet enough that Shima doesn’t hear.

“Me.”

You hold up your bag to hear Luna better. “What I am is an Ignis. An AI with free will. We were created to be the light to humanity’s future. Our creator had a change of heart last minute, however. Decided we would eventually become humanity’s ruin. I remember that much. He might be the one who sent the Knights of Hanoi after me and my companions, but I’m not sure.” Luna veers her eye to the screen and her gazes fills with contempt. “That is the Cracking Dragon, the same monster that attacked my home,” she spits.

“Wow,” you whisper, starstruck. “But why would they be attacking Link VRAINS when you’re out here, in the real world?”

“Your guess is as good as mine.”

You put your bag back to your side and survey the plaza. 

So many people are injured up front, and you yearn to help them. You only hold back so you don’t interrupt the EMTs. In Link VRAINS, more and more people are engulfed in flames. Red particles fly everywhere in the destruction. 

The angry flames heading towards Blue Angel reflect off your eyes. The weight of the scene makes you sink down on the pavement, which irritates your injured knees. You can’t help, in VRAINS or in-person. Once again, you feel powerless, weak, and small, especially compared to the dragon. It isn’t your place to intervene, but you desperately want to.

You fixate on the screen, unable to look away. You expected Blue Angel to turn into another cloud of red particles, but a figure carries her out of harm’s way. 

When the figure turns around, the scattered remains of the once large crowd cheer in relief. 

The figure addresses the knight. “I have what you're looking for.” He lifts up his duel disk.

Both you and Luna gasp in recognition, her at the disk, and you at the duelist.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *bricking - "an unofficial term used by players when they draw a hand with poor synergy, such as a hand with a lot of high level monsters, a hand with no monsters, or a hand with mismatched draw cards" (basically Shima in ep 27 lol)
> 
> Happy New Year! Hoping for a better 2021! Been super busy during finals and took some time during winter break to relax. Side note, I just finished HxH and spent time sifting through fanfics to fill the hole the show has left in my heart ;-;.
> 
> Hope this slightly longer chapter (a little over 4k+ words, a record for me) makes up for my absence! And holy crap, this story has reached over 400 hits and 15 kudos! Each kudo and comment really makes my day. I always try to reply to comments, even if its months later! I've decided to link a pic to the duel cards whenever a spell/trap/monster in the actual card game is used. Hopefully that helps with visualization and keeping track of which card is played. As you can see, we have finally reached canon :) Sorry (not sorry) for ending this where I did, but I'm looking forward to posting the next chapter.
> 
> I would love to hear your thoughts/constructive criticisms! Until next time!


	8. Turn 8 | Dueling Winds Unleashed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Two of Playmaker’s duels ignite a nostalgic passion that’s long been snuffed out in Teruko’s heart. She and Luna also get a big lead.

**Turn 8 | Dueling Winds Unleashed**

“No way!!” Shime squeals in front of you. “Playmaker is here!”

“So he is…” you trail off.

“Teruko. That’s…” Luna’s eye is dilated in surprise. “That’s an AI, an AI like me. I’m positive. I might’ve seen it before, but…” Luna’s eye refocuses in concentration. The disk’s display suddenly glitches and a soft staticky sound echoes from it. Luna stops concentrating and grumbles. “I can’t access my memory. It seems like there’s a huge gap.”

“What? Really?!” You try to see what the AI looks like on Playmaker’s duel disk, but the cameraman (or drone? It was so high up in the air.) was too far away to make out details. You would have to take Luna’s word for it. “That means we’ve finally found our first lead.” One step closer to removing your blackmail.

The Knight of Hanoi jumps off Cracking Dragon. With his opponent in front of him, Playmaker doesn’t shout. Unfortunately, the drone can’t clearly pick up the conversation, but it looks like Playmaker is challenging the knight to a duel.

Another sudden sensation washes over you and elicits a small gasp from you. It's way more powerful than any of the other weird sensations you’ve experienced this past month. This one also feels like an opened barrier. But unlike the earlier pinging sensation you experienced tonight, this one feels less forceful and shattering. It’s like a gate has swung open and unleashed waves of unbridled energy.

Simultaneously, a huge beam of light emerges from Playmaker’s duel disk and illuminates the big screen in a purple glow. It hits the sky and the screen goes completely white. Thundering rumbles roar as the screen goes back to normal.

_What in the heavens…_

Behind Playmaker and the knight is a massive pillar of purple… wind? You're going to call it wind based on the ruffling of the knight’s and Playmaker’s hair and clothes. The crowd shares a similar reaction to you: standing mystified, curious, and slightly frightened by the thunderous sounds and strong winds.

Playmaker jumps. He catches everyone’s attention. Gracefully, he lands on a board and starts surfing on a new current of wind.

“Luna, what am I witnessing?” You flip your head to her, confusion and curiosity painted on your face.

Her singular eye is narrowed and guarded with an unidentifiable emotion. She says nothing. 

“This is,” someone says, quickly approaching from behind you. You make sure to shift Luna out of sight before they reach you.

“A Data Storm.” _A Data Storm?_

It’s the cheerful hot dog man, you recognize. You’ve ordered from him many times in the plaza. Though he doesn’t sound too cheery right now. His voice was laced with concern and confusion. Confusion seems to be going around a lot at the moment.

You fix your eyes back on the screen. The knight has gotten a board of his own. “They aren’t seriously about to have a Master Duel in _the air_?” you ask incredulously.

“Speed Duel!” both duelists shout. Apparently they are?! But what is a Speed Duel?

“What’s up with this duel?” Shima asks your unspoken question.

“It’s called a Speed Duel,” the cheerful hot dog man says unhelpfully. He’s still staring in awe at the screen.

_“I’ve heard rumors about it before.”_ An audience member whispers.

_“Yeah. A duel where you ride the wind.”_

Data Storms… You’ve come across that term in your search for answers about Hanoi. They must be the wind that enables Speed Duels.

The turbulent wind really hinders the audio, but you can barely make out the duelists' opening moves with aid from the visual ATK/DEF counters.

The Cracking Dragon the knight summoned destroys a building. Your worry for Playmaker increases at the display of formidable strength, and even more when the knight reveals its invincibility against lower-leveled monsters. You’ve never fully seen Playmaker duel, so you don’t know how good he is. You're surprised at Playmaker opening with a Cyberse monster you’ve never seen before. By the bustling of the crowd, you can assume they haven’t either.

Soon, the knight activates a chain of spells that makes Playmaker take 1600 damage and sends him careening off his board. 

Your eyes widen. Even in the virtual world, a fall from that height might cause some brain damage. “Won’t he get hurt from a fall that high?!” you exclaim. 

You had directed your concern to Shima, but end up taken aback by the intense look on the hot dog man’s face. It’s painfully panicstricken and fearful. You were concerned for Playmaker, yes, but a stranger shouldn’t have such a strong reaction as his. The man’s face morphs into relief when Blue Angel saves Playmaker.

Shima cheers for Playmaker. _Thank goodness there isn’t another casualty._

A swirling tornado of wind appears from the corner of the building. You gape at it. You definitely thought too soon, as Playmaker, now at a measly 400LP from the knight’s attacks, is swept up into the thick of the storm.

The drone zips further away and you can see countless buildings disintegrating. Nobody knows Playmaker’s status. A small light grows larger and larger in the middle of the storm. Swirls of wind are being sucked into that focal point of light.

“What do you think is going on in there, Luna?” you discreetly step a little farther away from Shima and the man.

“Judging from the light in the storm, Playmaker is likely activating his Skill,” she responds analytically.

“His Skill?”

“It’s an ability a duelist can use once a duel to give themselves an advantage.”

“Storm Access!”

Playmaker erupts from the storm with a single card in hand. He starts a quick chain of summons that build up to a magnificent Link Summon of the Cyberse monster [ Decode Talker ](https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/627fe721-846f-4f75-ac61-111ca00b27dd/dcpruhh-c57766db-64bd-44f1-aa6d-b1be2a6aeb64.png?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOiIsImlzcyI6InVybjphcHA6Iiwib2JqIjpbW3sicGF0aCI6IlwvZlwvNjI3ZmU3MjEtODQ2Zi00Zjc1LWFjNjEtMTExY2EwMGIyN2RkXC9kY3BydWhoLWM1Nzc2NmRiLTY0YmQtNDRmMS1hYTZkLWIxYmUyYTZhZWI2NC5wbmcifV1dLCJhdWQiOlsidXJuOnNlcnZpY2U6ZmlsZS5kb3dubG9hZCJdfQ.aGWBV1YcF7N9P2OJ_n7ha_BQ_1-sJ0_6nJCTx_VyGeU). With Decode Talker and other cards in its link, he attacks the knight.

“But Cracking Dragon can’t be destroyed by a lower Level monster—”

Luna lets out a derisive snicker. “Hah! Idiot.”

The knight trembles in terror once he comes to the same conclusion as Luna. Link monsters don’t have levels. Cracking Dragon cracks and explodes in shatters. A quite fitting end considering its name.

“Playmaker saved Link VRAINS!” Shima and many others rejoice in Playmaker’s victory. You clap in happiness as well, then survey the damage on the ground once more. Who knows what might’ve happened if the knight continued to run rampant.

You peer down, deep in thought. Now more than ever, you’re curious as to why Playmaker is so interested in the Knights of Hanoi. And the AI in Playmaker’s duel disk. How did he get it? He mentioned the knights are looking for it. Why are they? So many whys and hows and whats collide in your head. It’s bringing you nowhere. You conclude you need to sleep over today’s events and discuss with Luna later. 

“Shima, I think I’ve had enough excitement for one night. We better head home. I’m sorry we didn’t get to see the Championship.” 

“Hah, that’s right!” Shima cries. “They better give you your money back! Thanks for taking me, though. Without you I wouldn’t have gotten to see Playmaker’s most awesome duel! You should also get your knees checked out.”

You laugh softly. “You’re welcome, Shima. And yeah, I’ll take care of them when I get home.”

From the entire way back to the time you hit the bed, Luna doesn’t speak a word.

* * *

“Who exactly is Playmaker? Very little is known about him at the moment. We’ve reached out to SOL Technologies for what is now deemed a cyberterrorist attack by the Knights of Hanoi last night. We have yet to receive a response beyond SOL’s PR statement about an active investigation. The Charisma Championship has been postponed for the indefinite future.”

Shima gleefully stares at his tablet, fully engrossed in the news segment.

The latest gossip around the school is all about Playmaker and last night events. Speculations and theories are tossed all around. You ruminate about yesterday as well on your way to school.

Your mom had called. She was aware you attended the Championship and was very relieved to know you were relatively uninjured beside your patched up knees.

If Playmaker was hoping to stay relatively unnoticed, all chances of that are gone now. He can delete his login data, but he can’t get rid of live footage. Playmaker has probably even reached international news with how popular the Charisma Championship is.

Shima turns his tablet to you and points to something on it. “Roka! Did you know SOL made Speed Duels illegal for normal players?”

“Illegal?” You scan the article. “Do they get their accounts suspended or something similar?”

He nods in affirmation. “Yeah, they can even get their account erased.”

_Jeez._ Made sense, though. Falling is a very present danger in Speed Duels. You hoped Hosoda would talk about Speed Duels in your meeting tomorrow. You don’t know the rules and considering how fast Playmaker’s duel was, Speed Duels must have rules that shorten duel length.

* * *

The next day, you somehow ended up lodged between Fujiki and Shima. Your teacher was droning on about math, making it hard for you to stay focused but you tried your best . Shima... not so much. He was swiping through his tablet. Fujiki was awake, for once, but blankly staring ahead, mind clearly elsewhere.

“You may think that computers can understand everything.”

Your mood picks up just a bit at the mention of computers. You lean closer to the lecturer when he mentions the binary game _Tower of Hanoi_ , of all things. 

There are still so many things you need to learn about them. Your search has been very unfruitful so far, and Luna has been oddly quiet recently. If only— 

“Hey, hey, Fujiki!” Shima whisper-shouts over your shoulder to Fujiki. “Did you see what Playmaker did?”

“No.”

That response is surprising considering it’s all over the news now. Shima’s raised eyebrows indicate his agreement.

“Roka and I were there in-person! Super inspiring!” he gushes.

As Fujiki shifts to lean his head in his hand, you notice the absence of his duel disk. “Hey, Fujiki, where’s your duel disk?”

“I left it at home. It’s house-sitting.” _House-sitting?_ You pout. You wish you had the option to leave Luna at home every now and then. You barely got her to agree to being left behind on your trips to Jin.

“Duel disks have house-sitting functions?” Shima questions. You kind of thought Fujiki was exaggerating, but he doesn’t seem like a person who would. You shrug in response when Fujiki doesn’t speak and focus back on the teacher.

“Gah! It’s Hanoi!” Short-lived focus, because now you were leaning over Shima’s shoulder to get a look at the newest Knight of Hanoi.

He grabs the entire classroom’s attention, including the teacher when he stands up hastily. “Hanoi! It’s a Knight of Hanoi!”

You cower in your seat under the weight of so many people’s stares. Fujiki likely wouldn’t enjoy this much attention. You turn to him looking to get comfort from relating with someone in the same predicament. His seat is empty and you barely catch a blend of pink, purple, and blue hair dashing out the door.

_Did he—did he just skip class?_ Nobody noticed thanks to Shima’s distraction. Sure, Fujiki does sleep in class a lot, but you never thought he would _skip_ class. 

“Shima, please sit down. And focus on the lecture or you may risk having your tablet confiscated.”

“Ah,” Shima slowly sinks into his seat, “sorry, teach.”

It’s barely an hour later, just a few minutes before dismissal, when Shima nudges your shoulder.

“Roka! Look!”

“Shima, class is almost o—” 

“But it’s Playmaker and Go Onizuka!” he whispers excitedly. The fanboy slides his tablet over to you, which displays Playmaker and Go Onizuka commencing a duel.

“I thought Playmaker only dueled the Knights of Hanoi?”

“I’m not sure, but I think Go was only disguised as a knight!” Playmaker probably would’ve declined a direct challenge from Go Onzuka with how goal-oriented he is with the knights.

But why would Go go out of his way to bait Playmaker? You think back to what you know about Go Onizuka—he’s known for his traditional entertainment style and he’s the #1 Charisma Duelist, with Blue Angel very close behind. 

“He might be trying to reclaim the spotlight from Playmaker. Everybody’s been focused on Playmaker. Might’ve hurt his pride.” Luna whispers close to your ear. You nod in agreement. Using the Knights of Hanoi was a smart move. 

The bell rings for the final time today. “C’mon, Shima. I bet Hosoda will let us finish watching this duel in the clubroom.” You backtrack at the eagerness in your voice. _Playmaker is my only lead in helping Luna. That's why I’m so interested in viewing a virtual duel_ , you rationalize. 

Doesn’t explain the small giddy feeling growing in your chest.

Everyone but Zaizen is in the room when you two arrive. 

“Prez Hosoda!! You need to put Playmaker’s and Go Onizuka’s duel on the screen. Quick!! Or we might miss it!” Shima slightly shakes the senior’s shoulders.

“Calm down, Shima! I’m already ahead of you.” Hosoda plugs in his computer to the projector. The duel Go vs. Playmaker broadcasts loud and clear.

In the ten minutes it took you and Shima to pack up and run to the club, both Playmaker and Go Onizuka already have two monsters each on the field. Go’s Goukis and Playmaker’s [ Linkslayer ](https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/yugioh/images/4/4f/Linkslayer-YS18-EN-C-1E.png/revision/latest?cb=20180712164225) and [ Cyberse Wizard ](https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/yugioh/images/1/17/CyberseWizard-SP18-EN-C-1E.png/revision/latest?cb=20180419202733) really emanate the wrestling match entertainment Go is known for. It’s an interesting way to view a duel. It draws you in like never before.

Cyberse Wizard activates its effect on [ Gouki Suprex ](https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/yugioh/images/9/9c/GoukiSuprex-MP18-EN-R-1E.png/revision/latest?cb=20180831212959) and switches Suprex into defense position. Suprex’s 0 DEF basically leaves Go open to a direct attack from Linkslayer. He quickly drops to 2000 LP.

“Go Onizuka could’ve avoided that attack.” Zaizen’s quiet voice from your left startles you. You guess you were so engrossed in the duel you didn’t notice when she came in.

“How so?” 

“Go’s [ Twistcobra ](https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/yugioh/images/9/96/GoukiTwistcobra-MP18-EN-SR-1E.png/revision/latest?cb=20180901004316) effect would have negated the battle.”

She must have been familiar with his cards to know that offhand. Zaizen views your confused look and explains. “Go Onizuka keeps his audience on their toes. Though he may put himself in tough situations to entertain, he barely loses. It’s a risky way of dueling, but there’s a reason he’s number one. People enjoy watching duelists struggle and make a dramatic comeback.”

That’s probably the most Zaizen has ever said to you at once. “Thanks, Zaizen. I didn’t know you knew so much about Charisma Duelists.” You smile gratefully. She probably realized the same thing and turned her head away to hide a faint blush.

“You’re welcome.”

Go Onizuka stays in his kneeling position. The timer for his turn ticks down second by second. If he doesn’t make a move in the next few seconds, it’ll be an automatic forfeit and a win for Playmaker.

“Go Onzuka has been pushed to the brink!” The announcer pops up.

“Go! Stand up!!” Shima pleads. You silently wish for the same thing. The duel can’t end like this.

“If this was wrestling, both his shoulders are on the mat. We will start the three count! If he doesn’t stand up and make a move, it’ll be a forfeit!”

“One!” From the corner of your eye, you see Luna curiously peek her head out to observe the duel from under the table.

“Two!” Shima tenses on your right.

“Three—” Suddenly, Go Onizuka stands up straight and tall.

“By going from the field to the graveyard, Suprex’s effect activates!” Go draws [ Gouki Riscorpio ](https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/yugioh/images/9/94/GoukiRiscorpio-MP18-EN-R-1E.png/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/340?cb=20180831211740) to his hand.

You deduce he was only pretending to lose from Zaizen’s insight. Go clearly managed to psych out his audience based on the tension in the clubroom.

“I activate my skill, Fighting Spirit!” It allows him to Special Summon all Goukis destroyed in battle that turn.

“That’s a game changing skill,” you comment, and Zaizen hums her agreement.

Go summons Riscorpio due to its effect. With three monsters on the field, he opens a circuit and Link summons[ Gouki The Great Ogre ](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/61o43yPKW8L._AC_.jpg). The ring turns into a 2 v 1, but Playmakers normal monsters against a Link monster makes for a very tough matchup.

“Ahah! I knew he could do it!” Shima and another club member high five. You can admit that was a pretty good comeback. Especially when Great Ogre’s effect decreases Playmaker’s monsters’ ATK _and_ gets two destroyed Goukis back on his field with a spell. By tributing cards and another Gouki’s effect, Great Ogre’s ATK raises to a whopping _5700_. 

Playmaker plays the trap [ Cyberse Shatter ](https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/627fe721-846f-4f75-ac61-111ca00b27dd/dbbyui4-1d40865c-a663-4ee5-a5f5-4bbcce7a2707.png?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOiIsImlzcyI6InVybjphcHA6Iiwib2JqIjpbW3sicGF0aCI6IlwvZlwvNjI3ZmU3MjEtODQ2Zi00Zjc1LWFjNjEtMTExY2EwMGIyN2RkXC9kYmJ5dWk0LTFkNDA4NjVjLWE2NjMtNGVlNS1hNWY1LTRiYmNjZTdhMjcwNy5wbmcifV1dLCJhdWQiOlsidXJuOnNlcnZpY2U6ZmlsZS5kb3dubG9hZCJdfQ.5KVoD0XrrvI8S19g7hWXBNuPSH7ltX-k1DN1FPaaBZ0) and negates Great Ogre’s 800 ATK increase. You frown and do quick calculations in your head. If he had used it on Twistcobra he could’ve prevented _much_ more ATK. A severe misplay that drops Playmaker to a measly 100 LP.

Playmaker, from what you’ve seen a few days ago and data from his previous duels, is a competent and really skilled duelist. You can’t imagine him making such a costly mistake. You conclude the play was on purpose.

You chuckle. You never guessed him as an entertainer; his serious and goal-oriented style of dueling made him stand out. Yet you believe some part of Playmaker might actually be enjoying this duel out of respect for Go Onizuka.

With a start, you realize _you’re_ enjoying the virtual duel, too. Not a single memory resurfaced and your general apathy for virtual dueling was absent, instead replaced by the nostalgic thrill of an intense duel.

Playmaker Link summons a monster while an incoming Data Storm swirls into view. Three monsters on the field, 100 LP, and a Data Storm… you know what he’s about to do.

“ **Storm Access!** ” Both you and Playmaker say at the same time. Zaizen and Shima are surprised, though for differing reasons. Zaizen predicted the skill activation, but didn’t expect you to predict the same as well. Shima was just blindsided that you were able to predict it at all. Wasn’t it obvious, though?

Playmaker’s grand chain of _four_ Link summons ends with Decode Talker. The card may as well be his signature ace.

In an impressive back and forth, Great Ogre and Decode Talker go head to head, again, and again. The suspense in the ring makes your heart beat heavily with each knockdown and comeback due to monster effects. The final knockdown occurs when Go realizes his field is empty. Great Ogre is finally destroyed. Playmaker initiates one last spell, one last attack, and Go’s final count of three. The Charisma Duelist stays down this time, making Playmaker the winner of the duel.

“Amazing,” you breathe. “God, my heart was beating so fast throughout all that.” Zaizen claps politely with the rest of the club and Shima literally dances in triumph around the room.

“That’s why he’s #1, Roka!” he yells.

Hosoda goes over the highlights of the duel, the strategies both players used, and Speed Duel rules. Duelists have three Main Monster zones and three Spell & Trap zones. The rules sound familiar. You can’t place where you’ve heard them from, though. Regardless, you have a better grasp on how Speed Duels work. Afterwards, Hosoda closes the meeting and bids everyone goodbye until the meeting next week.

Shima raves about Go Onizuka and Playmaker the entire way to your bike. “I know Shima! It was a stunning duel. I think… I think I appreciate virtual duels a little more.”

Shima fist pumps the air. “Hah, just you wait! It won’t be long until we both debut in Link VRAINS.”

Your smile falters a little. “I’m not so sure about that, but I do look forward to your first virtual duel.” You hop on your bike. “I’m going to head home. See you tomorrow?”

“Of course, see you Roka!” Shima waves goodbye and jogs in the direction of his home. 

Zaizen comes around a corner just a second after Shima leaves. “Ah, see you next week, Roka.” She smiles a tiny smile, but _smiles_ at you nonetheless.

You give her a bright one back. “Yes! See you Zaizen.” She’s never wished you goodbye or smiled at you before. You feel as though your acquaintance is growing closer to a friendship. 

Both you and Zaizen head your respective ways back home.

Luna’s form rises from the duel disk once you arrive home. “Playmaker and his AI are… intriguing.” You shoot her an inquisitive look, prompting her to elaborate. “Playmaker was forced to duel Go because a program trapped him in Link VRAINS. Whoever designed the program was working with Go Onizuka to bait out Playmaker.”

“Hanoi?” you suggest.

She shakes her head. “Doesn’t make sense for Hanoi to work with Go Onizuka. I wouldn’t eliminate that possibility though.” Luna crosses her arms. “What confused me is that during the duel, right after Go’s monster got that massive ATK increase, there was an exit program for Playmaker. He could’ve left Link VRAINS there and then.”

“But he didn’t,” you finish for her. “How do you know about the programs?”

“I’m permanently connected to Link VRAINS. It’s where I originated. It isn’t hard for me to access what’s going in there, even with SOL’s security.” You shudder; of course this AI would also be able to bypass SOL Technologies.

“Well, I think it was probably out of respect for Go’s fighting spirit and dueling style. It’s very contagious.”

Luna tilts her head up and speaks with a hint of haughtiness in her tone. “Humans and their peculiar behaviors. Playmaker could’ve ended the duel much quicker or even _left_ if he wanted to.”

You sigh. “For all the time you spend around me, you still have a bit more to learn about humans.” You hand your school jacket and bag to Emerald to put away, but not before removing your laptop out of the bag. Emerald hands you a snack in exchange.

“The exit program also brings in another concern.”

Ah, you get where Luna’s leading. “It means he must have a partner, or even partners, working with him right? There wouldn’t be a way for Playmaker to create an exit program while he was focused on dueling.” As talented as Playmaker is in hacking, he can’t duel and code at the same time.

“Right. This makes everything just a bit more complicated.”

As you power on your laptop, Luna pipes up once more. “Teruko, you know coding, right?”

“I know some basics. I’m not very good at it, though.” You list out the coding languages you know.

Luna’s eyes, in her waist-up form, shrink and wrinkle as if the AI was smiling. “That’s perfect. We can expand on that.”

“Why would I need to learn more complex coding?”

“I have an idea. It’s time to move onto a new phase of our search.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So much dueling in this chapter! I hope Teruko’s perspective of these duels didn’t make them too repetitive to read. I tried to summarize them the best I could. Sorry if I made a mistake in the plays of the duels! If I did please ignore it, they both conclude the same as the anime. If I made grammatical/spelling mistakes, lmk. I can only proofread the same chapter so many times haha. What did you think about the flow of the duels? The content of the Go v Playmaker was more important so I spent more time on that. 
> 
> The next chapter will mostly spotlight Teruko and Luna. They’ll finally get deeper into their search, even if Teruko has many reservations about Luna’s plan. ;)


End file.
